Military belittles new Abu Sayyaf leader

The military on Monday belittled Khair Mundus as the new leader of the Abu Sayyaf faction in Basilan province. “We are not daunted whoever the new Abu Sayyaf leader is. Leaders just come and go," said Armed Forces spokesman Lt. Col. Arnulfo Burgos at a press briefing in Camp Aguinaldo. An Associated Press report, citing information from the military, described Mundus as an Islamic extremist who has ties with foreign financial sources in Saudi Arabia and Malaysia. He is on the US list of most wanted terrorists with a $500,000 reward for his capture. Burgos said they are still verifying Mundus’ rise in the Abu Sayyaf hierarchy. He however said they are not discounting the possibility that more funds would be funneled to the Abu Sayyaf with Mundus, who was arrested in 2004 but escaped detention in 2007, playing a bigger role in the Abu Sayyaf. Burgos said they would keep their “momentum" against the al-Qaeda-linked bandit group. “We will try to maintain the momentum because we have inflicted blows on them. Lately, we’ve neutralized some of their leaders in encounters," he said, referring to Albader Parad and Abdulhan Jumdail, who were killed in an encounter in Sulu last month. Military estimates that current number of active Abu Sayyaf members to more or less 400. - KBK, GMANews.TV