MILITARY REMAINS ON GUARD FOR POSSIBLE TERRORIST ATTACKS
MANILA, MAY 9, 2011 (TRIBUNE) By Mario J. Mallari - While there was no monitored threat from terrorist groups in the country after the killing of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) remains on guard to thwart any possible retaliatory attacks from followers of the slain terrorist.
AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Eduardo Oban Jr. stressed it is �prudent to consider all possibilities� when dealing with terrorists.
�That�s why we are always prepared�and we�re hitting it right in the heart of the organization in Jolo and Basilan,� said Oban, apparently referring to the terrorist Abu Sayyaf group and the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) which are known to have ties with Bin Laden�s al-Qaeda terrorist network.
Oban pointed out that aside from combat operations, the AFP, under its internal peace and security plan �Bayanihan�, is conducting various developmental projects in the provinces of Sulu and Basilan.
�The strategy is to neutralize them (ASG and JI), isolate them first, cut off their lines, mass base support, logistics lines and while we are doing these, we have the developmental efforts,� Oban said.
Asked of the latest security assessment by the AFP regarding terror threat, Oban replied �there is none yet�as what our higher intelligence or security body is saying we have stepped up our
intelligence efforts.�
Only last Friday, Abu Sayyaf terrorist Arabani Jakiran was arrested by combined police and military operatives while working as a security guard at the posh hotel in Taguig City.
Oban, however, downplayed the arrest of Jakiran, who was tagged in several high-profile kidnappings perpetrated by the ASG in Southern Philippines in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
�They normally come to the urban areas to elude arrest�they are just hiding, these have arrest warrants�but our tracking against them is continuous wherever they are,� Oban said.
Oban also admitted about the intensified intelligence operations against JI bomber Zulkifli Abdhir, alias Marwan, who was monitored in Southern Philippines during the past years, along with other wanted terrorists.
�I cannot tell you the exact number but we have them in our intelligence reports,� Oban said.
Both police and military establishments have heightened security operations after last Monday�s killing of Bin Laden in a US-led military operation in Pakistan.
FROM THE MANILA TIMES
Al-Qaeda vows to avenge death of �martyr� bin Laden
[Pakistani Islamists burn a US flag against the killing of Osama bin Laden during a protest outskirt of Quetta on May 6, 2011. TOPSHOTS/AFP PHOTO/Banaras KHAN]
WASHINGTON: Al-Qaeda and Islamic militants have vowed to avenge the killing of Osama bin Laden by US commandos, declaring him a �martyr� and calling on Muslims to rise up against the United States.
But US President Barack Obama swept aside the militants� defiant reaction, decorating the team that killed their inspirational leader and pledging the United States would crush Al-Qaeda.
�We have cut off their head and we will ultimately defeat them,� Obama said Friday after meeting in private with the special forces personnel that raided bin Laden�s hideout in Pakistan and shot dead the Al-Qaeda leader.
Confirming bin Laden�s death for the first time, the terror network denounced his slaying urging Pakistani Muslims �to cleanse their country from the filth of the Americans who spread corruption in it.�
The Afghanistan Taliban also joined the chorus of condemnation � as small rallies were held after Friday prayers in several Islamic nations � saying the loss of the architect of the September 11, 2001 attacks would only serve to strengthen its resolve in the fight against �foreign invaders.�
�We call upon our Muslim people in Pakistan, on whose land Sheikh Osama was killed, to rise up and revolt to cleanse this shame,� Al-Qaeda said in a statement released by the SITE monitoring group.
The Islamist group proclaimed its Saudi-born founder a �martyr,� adding he had �terrified all the nations of disbelief.� It vowed the jihadist network would survive, but did not name anyone to take over as its leader.
The White House said it was on alert for security threats as Al-Qaeda also vowed to release an audio tape made by bin Laden just a week before his death.
The Obama administration, embroiled in a decade-long war in Afghanistan, is keenly aware of the dangers facing US interests and nationals abroad.
US forces ousted the Taliban from power in 2001 following the 9/11 attacks in retaliation for harboring bin Laden on Afghan soil.
And the Taliban said bin Laden�s death would �give a new impetus to the current jihad against the invaders in this critical phase of jihad,� according to an email statement released by spokesman Tariq Ghazniwal. AFP
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Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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