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April 18, 1995, Manila Standard, Afghanistan, not Pakistan - FVR, by Fel V. Maragay,

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April 18, 1995, Manila Standard, page 3, Afghanistan, not Pakistan - FVR, by Fel V. Maragay,

Afghanistan, not Pakistan, is the site of clandestine training camps where international terrorists, possibly including Abu Sayyaf extremists from the Philippines, are being trained in guerilla warfare, President Ramos revealed yesterday.

The President, in a hastily-called press briefing said Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto had disclosed to him of the existence of these training camps during her -two-day visit to Manila last February.

"What she told me is that this training for international terrorists is happening in Afghanistan near the Pakistani border and that Pakistan herself has been a victim of these international terrorists, whatever be their nationalities," Mr. Ramos said.

Alunan mission

Earlier, media reports emanating from Mindanao said Abu Sayyaf terrorists are being trained in batches in underground camps in Pakistan. Many of the trained Abu Sayyaf members have already returned to Mindanao, which explains the upsurge of their terrorist activities, the report said.

On Sunday, Interior and Local Government Secretary Rafael Alunan III, flew to Pakistan armed with an official mission to discuss ways and means to strengthen the campaign against global terrorism.

Alunan's trip to Pakistan came on the heels of the President's order to the Armed Forces of the Philippines and Philippine National Police to isolate and crush the Abu Sayyaf terrorists by cutting their contacts with various terrorists abroad.

The President said that Alunan was invited by his Pakistani counterpart as a result of an agreement forged during Prime Minister Bhutto's recent visit to the Philippines.

"We agreed with Prime Minister Bhutto that we would jointly address and intensify our cooperation in combating international terrorism," he said.

Mr. Ramos said Bhutto was "most profuse" in her appreciation of the action of the Philippine government in sharing with the international community, including Pakistan, vital information on the activities of international terrorism [sic] Ramsi Ahmad Yousef, a Pakistani national.

Yousef was subsequently arrested in Pakistan and is now facing court trial for the bombing of the World Trade Center in New York last year which killed several people.

The President said the fight against international terrorism is a "multilateral effort" because it is for the benefit of all peace-loving countries. 

"We have signaled the international community, specially those victims of international cooperation to lend their support in the same way that the Philippines has been performing and lending its support in uncovering international terrorists regardless of nationality," he said.

The President also said that a report that high-powered weapons being smuggled to Abu Sayyaf terrorists and Muslim rebels in Southern Philippines came from Afghanistan will be taken up in the forthcoming meeting of the National Security Council.

The National Intelligence Coordinating Agency has identified Afghanistan as a major source of firearms for Muslim terrorists and separatists. (Fel V. Maragay) 

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