AFP: JI bomber making contacts with Sayyaf likely

Amid threats of terror attacks on the Philippines, the prospect of international terrorist bomb experts making contacts with the bandit group Abu Sayyaf is “not far-fetched," the Armed Forces of the Philippines said Saturday. AFP spokesman Brig. Gen. Jose Mabanta Jr. said this even as he pointed out security forces are still verifying reports that one such bomb expert from Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) had made contact with the Abu Sayyaf group in the southern Philippines. “We can say the Abu Sayyaf is the topmost local terrorist group. The possibility that it is making contacts with JI bomb experts is not far-fetched. They can do that," Mabanta said in Filipino an interview on dzBB radio. He said the Abu Sayyaf is known to have existing international links through which it gets “moral, logistics and financial support." He added that while all these are still being verified, “the AFP is always prepared for whatever contingency it needs to put in place." On Saturday, the Philippine Daily Inquirer newspaper quoted Philippine Institute for Peace, Violence and Terrorism Research (PIPVTR) executive director Prof. Rommel Banlaoi as saying a “bomb expert" with links to the JI, and who is staying in Mount Cararao in Maguindanao in the last few months, has made contact with the Abu Sayyaf. Banlaoi said the institute had been monitoring the man’s movements through its contacts in Sulu and Maguindanao, adding the JI personality is the one that replaced Fathur Al-Ghozi. Al-Ghozi was the highest ranking JI leader to be jailed in the Philippines, who escaped from prison in July 2003 and was killed four months later. The report also quoted Banlaoi as saying the still-unidentified man was among six to eight other JI members who had conducted military training among residents of Buldon in Maguindanao. “We are not taking these reports for granted. All of these are being verified and collated so we can come up with a good assessment. So many reports are filtering in. But at this point there is no threat to Metro Manila," Mabanta said. Metro Manila police officer-in-charge Chief Superintendent George Regis maintained they are ready to deal with any contingency. “Kami ay vigilant 24/7 (We remain vigilant on a 24/7 basis)," Regis said in a separate interview on dzBB. Meanwhile, Mabanta appealed to Banlaoi and other people who may have information on terrorist threats to bring their information to security authorities first instead of the media. He said there is a danger of things being “blown out of proportion" and these information may even cause panic if brought to media first. “Deal with us and give us this information rather than relay it to media. It may be blown out of proportion and even cause panic," he said. — LBG, GMANews.TV