MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines announced on Wednesday that one of the co-founders of the Al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf extremist group had been arrested after being detained at Jakarta airport for using a false passport.
Indonesian authorities picked up Abdul Basir Latip on November 21, but he was only brought back to Manila on Wednesday, said Philippine National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) spokesman Ricardo Diaz.
The NBI said Latip was a founding member of the Abu Sayyaf and had worked with its spiritual leader, Khadaffy Janjalani, who the Philippine military killed in 2006.
Daiz said Latip served as a conduit of funds between Al-Qaeda leaders in Saudi Arabia and the Abu Sayyaf, a Muslim militant group blamed for the Philippines' worst terror attacks.
"His involvement was not as a fighter but as a finance officer and the conduit for Al-Qaeda to facilitate transfer of funds to the ASG (Abu Sayyaf group)," said Diaz.
The United States is also seeking Latip's extradition for the Abu Sayyaf's kidnapping of American missionary Charles Walton in the southern Philippines in 1993, according to Diaz.
Diaz alleged Latip had acted as a masked spokesman for the Abu Sayyaf during the Walton kidnapping, but he had been recognised through a birthmark on his left temple.
A Philippine court will decide whether Latip will be extradited to the United States to be tried for the kidnapping of Walton, who was released by the Abu Sayyaf after the Libyan government stepped in to mediate.
"There is still an extradition process ahead. It will be the court that will decide if he is to be extradited or not," Diaz said.
The bewhiskered Latip, wearing a T-shirt and a bandana, looked weary as he was processed by the National Bureau of Investigation in front of reporters, during which he insisted on his innocence.
"I was not a member of the ASG but I am a close friend of Janjalani," he said in clear English.
However he admitted to using a fake passport when detained in Jakarta. He said he had stopped there while returning to the Philippines from Jordan. It was not clear how long he had been overseas for.
The Abu Sayyaf was founded allegedly with Al-Qaeda seed money to fight for an independent Muslim state in the south of the mainly Catholic Philippines.
Its militants, who have never numbered more than 1,000, operate in remote and often lawless islands of the southern Philippines, resorting to kidnappings for ransom and other crimes to raise funds.
They usually target Christians and foreigners and frequently behead their hostages if ransoms are not paid.
It is also blamed for the bombing of a ferry in Manila Bay in 2004 that left more than 100 people dead, the nation's worst terrorist attack of recent times.
A small number of US troops have been based in the southern Philippines to help train Filipino soldiers in fighting the Abu Sayyaf since late 2001.
Philippine authorities say the Abu Sayyaf's numbers have fallen from about 1,000 eight years ago to about 300-400 now, thanks to the military campaign.
However they remain a danger in the southern Philippines.
One of three hostages kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf on the south's Basilan island on November 10 was murdered last week, with his severed head dumped in a local park.
The following day a college professor was abducted, and police again blamed the Abu Sayyaf.
In September, two US soldiers were killed in a roadside bomb on the southern Philippines' Jolo island in the deadliest attack on American forces so far by the militant group.(AFP)
Showing posts with label Indonesia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Indonesia. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Philippines detains Abu Sayyaf co-founder
Friday, September 14, 2007
Indon Terror Suspect Arrested In Philippines
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / 14 Sept) – Philippine authorities are holding an Indonesian terror suspect who was arrested in the province of Palawan, southwest of Manila, reports said on Friday.
Reports said the man was one of six Abu Sayyaf militants arrested since last week in a crackdown on suspected terrorists in the Philippines.
Authorities were investigating the man whom military interrogators believed is a member of the Indonesian terror group Jemaah Islamiya, blamed for the 2002 Bali bombings which killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.
Reports said the man is being held by military authorities in Zamboanga City in southern Philippines. Military officials were not immediately available to confirm the reports.
Filipino security forces were tracking down Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiya militants, including Dulmatin and Umar Patek and Zulkifli bin Hir, hiding in the southern region. (Mindanao Examiner)
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Indonesia Opens New Mindanao Air Route
DAVAO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 30 Nov) – Trade officials from the Philippines and the Indonesia hailed the launching of a new air route between the two countries.
An Indonesian airliner, Sriwijaya Air, launched its maiden flight from Manado to Davao City in the southern Philippines on Thursday. Both countries are members of the East Asean Growth Area along with Brunei and Malaysia.
Filipino officials said the new air link was part of an agreement signed by the two countries during a trade mission under the Jose Abad Santos-Glan-Sarangani (JAGS-CT) Cooperation Triangle to Indonesia in September.
"The new additional flight directly connecting Davao and Manado is an affirmation of growing vibrancy on the potentials for tourism, trade and investment within the BIMP-EAGA,” Undersecretary Virgilio Leyretana, chairman of the Mindanao Economic Development Council (MEDCo), said in a statement.
The Jakarta-based Sriwijaya Air uses Boeing 737-200 to provide an alternate service the Davao-Manado route, which is currently being served by Merpati Airlines. For its regular run, Sriwijaya is scheduled to fly every Monday and Thursday, arriving in Davao City at 01000 hrs and leaving for Manado at 01045 hrs.
The airline can accommodate 124 passengers and cargo of up to 3.5 tons. The new Davao-Manado route adds to the existing air and sea linkages between Mindanao and Indonesia.
Last month, both countries also opened a sea route from Glan town in Sarangani province to Tahuna in Bitung, Indonesia.
"Sriwijaya's Davao-Manado flight is expected to contribute to our aim of enhancing trade and socio-cultural links between the two nations. I hope this air route will be sustained, as it will certainly boost Mindanao's ties with Indonesia," Leyretana said.
Filipino and Russian’s Mosphil Aero Inc. this month also announced a plan to add new routes in Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia and probably other countries in Southeast Asia. Mosphil said it is only waiting the signing of the Fifth Freedom Traffic Rights by members of the sub-regional trade bloc of the East Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Growth Area (EAGA) during the ASEAN Summit in Cebu City next month.
Glenn Lamela, Mosphil's director on marketing and sales, said the new routes will even include those outside the Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, and Malaysia, Philippines- East ASEAN Growth Area or the BIMP-EAGA structure.
"The signing of the fifth freedom traffic right will allow us to operate internal flights within the four member countries of the BIMP-EAGA, and this is a big opportunity for us," Lamela told the Mindanao Examiner.
The Mindanao Business Council said that the Fifth Freedom Traffic Rights agreement will focus on the establishment of scheduled passenger services between Davao City-Kota Kinabalu (Malaysia)-Bandar Seri Begawan (Brunei Darussalam) and between Pontianak (Indonesia)-Kuching (Malaysia)-Bandar Seri Begawan (Brunei Darussalam).
Lamela said Mosphil is also planning to launch the Zamboanga-Kota-Kinabalu- Brunei, and Davao-Kota-Kinabalu-Manado routes and local flights from Zamboanga to Davao, Zamboanga-Cagayan de Oro, Zamboanga-Cebu, Cotabato-IloIlo, and Boracay-Zamboanga routes.
"It is our priority to strengthen and materialize the traffic and the air-linkages within the BIMP-EAGA. The Philippine government is looking at Mosphil as the model to be presented during the ASEAN summit comes this December," Lamela said.
Mosphil is currently operating the Zamboanga-Jolo route twice a week. It opened the flight just in September. "We wanted to increase the inflow of traffic to Zamboanga City," Lamela said, adding they wanted to establish Zamboanga City as hub of Mosphil operation. (Mindanao Examiner)
An Indonesian airliner, Sriwijaya Air, launched its maiden flight from Manado to Davao City in the southern Philippines on Thursday. Both countries are members of the East Asean Growth Area along with Brunei and Malaysia.
Filipino officials said the new air link was part of an agreement signed by the two countries during a trade mission under the Jose Abad Santos-Glan-Sarangani (JAGS-CT) Cooperation Triangle to Indonesia in September.
"The new additional flight directly connecting Davao and Manado is an affirmation of growing vibrancy on the potentials for tourism, trade and investment within the BIMP-EAGA,” Undersecretary Virgilio Leyretana, chairman of the Mindanao Economic Development Council (MEDCo), said in a statement.
The Jakarta-based Sriwijaya Air uses Boeing 737-200 to provide an alternate service the Davao-Manado route, which is currently being served by Merpati Airlines. For its regular run, Sriwijaya is scheduled to fly every Monday and Thursday, arriving in Davao City at 01000 hrs and leaving for Manado at 01045 hrs.
The airline can accommodate 124 passengers and cargo of up to 3.5 tons. The new Davao-Manado route adds to the existing air and sea linkages between Mindanao and Indonesia.
Last month, both countries also opened a sea route from Glan town in Sarangani province to Tahuna in Bitung, Indonesia.
"Sriwijaya's Davao-Manado flight is expected to contribute to our aim of enhancing trade and socio-cultural links between the two nations. I hope this air route will be sustained, as it will certainly boost Mindanao's ties with Indonesia," Leyretana said.
Filipino and Russian’s Mosphil Aero Inc. this month also announced a plan to add new routes in Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia and probably other countries in Southeast Asia. Mosphil said it is only waiting the signing of the Fifth Freedom Traffic Rights by members of the sub-regional trade bloc of the East Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Growth Area (EAGA) during the ASEAN Summit in Cebu City next month.
Glenn Lamela, Mosphil's director on marketing and sales, said the new routes will even include those outside the Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, and Malaysia, Philippines- East ASEAN Growth Area or the BIMP-EAGA structure.
"The signing of the fifth freedom traffic right will allow us to operate internal flights within the four member countries of the BIMP-EAGA, and this is a big opportunity for us," Lamela told the Mindanao Examiner.
The Mindanao Business Council said that the Fifth Freedom Traffic Rights agreement will focus on the establishment of scheduled passenger services between Davao City-Kota Kinabalu (Malaysia)-Bandar Seri Begawan (Brunei Darussalam) and between Pontianak (Indonesia)-Kuching (Malaysia)-Bandar Seri Begawan (Brunei Darussalam).
Lamela said Mosphil is also planning to launch the Zamboanga-Kota-Kinabalu- Brunei, and Davao-Kota-Kinabalu-Manado routes and local flights from Zamboanga to Davao, Zamboanga-Cagayan de Oro, Zamboanga-Cebu, Cotabato-IloIlo, and Boracay-Zamboanga routes.
"It is our priority to strengthen and materialize the traffic and the air-linkages within the BIMP-EAGA. The Philippine government is looking at Mosphil as the model to be presented during the ASEAN summit comes this December," Lamela said.
Mosphil is currently operating the Zamboanga-Jolo route twice a week. It opened the flight just in September. "We wanted to increase the inflow of traffic to Zamboanga City," Lamela said, adding they wanted to establish Zamboanga City as hub of Mosphil operation. (Mindanao Examiner)
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