WARNS BUSINESSES OF NPA ATTACKS
[PHOTO - camp of
Abu Sayyaf militants, on Jolo island in southern Philippines]
MINDANAO, JANUARY 6, 2012 (MANILA TIMES)
Written by : XINHUA with report from AFP - THE Armed Forces of the
Philippines on Wednesday confirmed the presence of at least five foreign
terrorists in restive southern Philippines.
Regional military commander Raymundo Ferrer said that they had
received information about the location of Zulkifli Bin Hir, also known as
Marwan, who has a $5-million bounty for his arrest over his involvement in the
2002 Bali bombings in Indonesia that left 110 foreigners dead.
He added that Marwan was moving around in Sulu province, along with members
of the terrorist group Abu Sayyaf.
The 380-strong Abu Sayyaf, founded in the early 1990s by Islamic extremists,
is notorious for kidnappings, bombings and even beheadings in southern Mindanao
over the past decade.
The four other foreign militants sighted along with the Abu Sayyaf were
Singaporean Abdullah Ali, a certain Qayim, Malaysian Amin Baco and an Indonesian
identified only as Sa'ad.
Also on Wednesday, an Indonesian court sentenced the wife of the alleged
mastermind of the Bali bombings to 27 months in jail for falsifying her
identity.
Filipina Ruqayyah Husein Luceno was arrested in Pakistan early last year with
her husband Umar Patek in the town where Osama bin Laden was subsequently killed
by US special forces.
She was "found guilty legally and convincingly" of falsifying her identity in
order to acquire her Indonesian passport, chief judge Suharjono told the East
Jakarta district court.
"She falsified her birth place from Mindanao in the Philippines to an
Indonesian address. She also used a fake name," the judge said as anti-terror
police forces guarded the courtroom. Some stood behind Luceno's chair.
With the passport, Patek and the defendant managed to fly from Jakarta to
Pakistan, where they stayed for five months before the arrest in January 2011.
The sentence, which can be appealed, was lighter than the four years sought
by prosecutors in a previous hearing. There was no mention of any terror charges
in the indictment.
Wearing a black Muslim burqa, or veil, Luceno remained calm and silent during
the hearing.
Police have said that Patek will be charged with premeditated murder over the
deaths of the 202 people, mostly Western tourists, who were killed in the Bali
bombings. It was not clear when his trial would begin.
In a re-enactment in October, Patek demonstrated to police how he built the
explosives at a boarding house on the resort island, and along with accomplices
loaded them onto a vehicle.
Patek has also confessed to carrying out a series of church bombings in
Indonesia on Christmas Eve in 2000, police said.
Sayyaf strikes again, bombs bridge in Sulu
Philippine Daily Inquirer 9:14 pm | Wednesday, January
4th, 2012
Members of the Abu Sayyaf bombed a bridge in Panamao, Sulu, early on
Wednesday but there was no casualty, the military said.
The attack came four days after an Abu Sayyaf attack on military camps in
Sulu.
Col. Jose Johriel Cenabre, deputy commander for Marines Operations of the
Naval Forces in Western Mindanao, said the Abu Sayyaf used an improvised
explosive device (IED) in blasting the bridge in Barangay Kandayok around 1 a.m.
Cenabre said a few hours before New Year's Day, Abu Sayyaf members also
attacked two Marine camps in Indanan town and in Patikul.
Chief Supt. Bienvenido Latag, police director of the Autonomous Region in
Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), said authorities had prepared for Abu Sayyaf attacks
based on intelligence reports. He said hours before the attacks took place,
authorities had monitored a big number of Abu Sayyaf members converging in Camp
Tambisan near Patikul.
In South Cotabato, police bomb experts yesterday detonated an IED discovered
under a tree along the national highway in Tantangan.
Chief Supt. Felicisimo Khu Jr., head of the Directorate for Integrated Police
Operations (Dipo) in Western Mindanao, said police suspect the bomb was meant
for buses of the Yellow Bus Line (YBL) which had refused to heed extortion
demands.
Khu said the detonated bomb was the third "intended for YBL."
On Dec. 26, two IEDs were also recovered by police in Polomolok town. The
bombs were found by two teenagers in a bag left near the gates of the Polomolok
National High School. Julie Alipala and Aquiles Z. Zonio,
Inquirer Mindanao
FROM THE PHILSTAR
AFP warns business firms of NPA attacks By Alexis
Romero The Philippine Star Updated January 05, 2012 12:00 AM
MANILA, Philippines - The military yesterday warned business firms of
possible atrocities by the New People's Army (NPA), citing the attack on an Army
patrol base in Agusan del Norte last Tuesday.
Maj. Gen. Victor Felix, chief of the Army's 4th Infantry Division, said they
are coordinating with the police and concerned government agencies to secure the
investors.
"We have warned our detachments. We have also talked to the economic targets
to strengthen their security posture," Felix said.
"We should be prepared for any of their (NPA) offensive moves. They have
already made a statement and I think we should take it seriously," he added.
Felix said the rebels earlier said that they would attack some mining firms.
"We are talking to the management (of the mining firms). In fact, some of the
firms have asked us to establish SCAA (Special Civilian Armed Auxilliary)
units," he said.
Another possible target of rebels are agricultural firms, Felix said.
A soldier was killed and two others were injured when suspected rebels
swooped down on the patrol base of the 23rd Infantry Battalion more than three
hours after the 18-day ceasefire was lifted.
On Sunday, communist rebels also threatened to stage more attacks to dispel
the military's claim that 23 provinces have been liberated from insurgency.
"The AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) has been known to make such
claims, only to be slapped in the face after a few days by NPA offensives," the
Communist Party of the Philippines said in a statement.
"In the next few weeks and months, the AFP will again be eating its own words
as the NPA continues to launch more and more tactical offensives across the
archipelago," it added.
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
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rights reserved
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