Asia Security
Monitor
No. 82, May 25, 2004 Al Qaeda-financed “charities” linked to Philippine terror;
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| March 10: A Philippines government report states that al Qaeda-linked terrorists are recruiting Muslim converts in the Philippines through a network of charities, the Associated Press reports. “When they use converts, they are using people who are familiar with Manila and other Christian-dominated centers,” Philippines National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales warned. Recently, at least seven Muslim converts were arrested in and around Manila with caches of explosives. The Philippines has approximately 200,000 Muslim converts, many of whom have previously worked as migrant laborers in the Middle East before returning to join the nation’s 8-million strong Islamic community. The convert groups receive funds from Arab benefactors from Muslims in the Middle East. The Philippine government’s intelligence report identified the Fi Sabilillah Da’wah and Media Foundation as the main local advocate of a radical Muslim convert movement in Christian-dominated Manila and Luzon. The group has been headed by Ahmad Santos – now in hiding – since 1998. Police soldiers recently raided the foundation’s mosque and office in suburban Quezon City, seizing firearms, explosives and video-tapes showing jihad activities. Links have been identified between Fi Sabilillah officers and bin Laden’s al Qaeda network, Jemaah Islamiah, other fundamentalist groups and a network of foundations set up by bin Laden’s brother-in-law, Mohammad Jamal Khalifa, a Saudi businessman who has a Filipina wife. May 14: A 40-year-old Middle East-based Filipino student was arrested on May 3rd in Zamboanga, Philippines, for sending money from Saudi Arabia to the Abu Sayyaf militant group in the Philippines, Reuters reports. The money was used to launch bomb attacks and buy weapons. Philippines Defense Secretary Eduardo Ermita said that the man was studying in an Arabic school in Saudi Arabia and was working for a charity organization controlled by Osama bin Laden’s brothers-in-law, Mohammed Jamal Khalifa. May 21: James Kelley, the Assistant Secretary of the U.S. State Department reportedly apologized to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) for detaining and later deporting a Muslim leader at the Los Angeles airport on May 12, reports the Philippines Inquirer News Service. The Muslim leader, Professor Abhoud Syed Lingga of the Bangsamoro Consultative Assembly, was invited to speak before a conference organized by the United Nations in New York. Upon his arrival in the United States, Lingga was detained under orders from the U.S. National Homeland Security Department. After several hours of detention, Lingga was given an option to return home or to appeal before immigration authorities. May 22: Agence France-Presse reports that the Philippine police who captured suspected Abu Sayyaf extremists found literature detailing chemical weapons in their possessions, stated a top intelligence official. But Philippines National Security Advisor Norberto Gonzales said, “It doesn’t mean they have the capability (for chemical weapons) or are already manufacturing them.” Gonzales adds, “It gives us a look into the mental framework of terrorists. What they really want is as many casualties as possible.” |
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Copyright
© 2004, American Foreign Policy Council.
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