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Home/ stevenwarran's Library/ Notes/ August 19, 2006, The Manila Times, 'No Concrete Proof of MILF Support for Jemaah Islamiah, by Isagani P. Palma,

August 19, 2006, The Manila Times, 'No Concrete Proof of MILF Support for Jemaah Islamiah, by Isagani P. Palma,

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Jemaah Islamiah

August 19, 2006, The Manila Times, 'No Concrete Proof of MILF Support for Jemaah Islamiah, by Isagani P. Palma, 484 words

GENERAL SANTOS CITY: Col. Pines Tabas, commander of 604th Army Brigade in Tacurong City, rejected suggestions that the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has direct links to Jemaah Islamiah (JI).

However, the high-ranking military officer in Central Mindanao confirmed that the dreaded Abu Sayyaf Group does have a tactical alliance with the JI. Their immediate objective, he added, is to launch major attacks on military detachments and government facilities in South Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat.

He said the military has heightened its alert status in the two provinces and other sensitive spots.

Some renegade members of the MILF, according to Tabas, do provide sanctuary to JI operatives. In fact, he said, some MILF regulars serve as front liners in the terror attacks in Mindanao. But there is no concrete evidence that largest Islamic separatist group in Mindanao supports the objectives or participates in the activities of the international terrorist organization.

"Our intelligence network has not been able to establish that an alliance exists between the two," the officer said.

Earlier, the Army had said the MILF-Special Operations Group provided sanctuary to JI leaders, Umar Patek and Dulmatin, at the MILF stronghold in Mindanao. The two are blamed for the 2002 bombing in Bali, Indonesia.

The pronouncement cleared the MILF of any involvement in twin bomb attacks that occurred over a week ago. The first rocked the regional complex of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao in Cotabato City, while the second went off in the business district of Kidapawan, North Cotabato. A number of people were injured including a member of a bomb disposal team.

A month ago, a homemade bomb exploded near the house of Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan of ARRM. Ampatuan escaped unscathed, but one of his security escorts and others sustained shrapnel wounds.

Security officials blamed the MILF special operations group for the series of terror attacks in the past years. They pointed to Shamir Salamat, brother of the late MILF chairman Hasim Salamat, as the leader.

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