01/23/2002
EDITORIAL NUMBER=0-09662

ABU SAYYAF: A CONTINUING THREAT

The United States is committed to shutting down Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network and all terrorist groups associated with it. This includes Abu Sayyaf [ah-boo sigh-ahf], a terrorist group that has menaced the Philippines for almost a decade. U.S. troops have been invited to the Philippines to help upgrade the country's counter-terrorism capabilities.

Abu Sayyaf is the smallest and most radical of the Islamic separatist groups operating in the southern Philippines. It seeks to establish by force an extremist Islamic state in western Mindanao and the Sulu archipelago. The founder of Abu Sayyaf was Abdurajik Abubakar Janjalani [ahb-dure-RAH-jeek ah-boo-bah-kahr JAHN-jah-lah-nee]. Janjalani reportedly studied in Saudi Arabia and Libya before joining Afghan guerrillas fighting against Soviet occupation. He returned to the Philippines with an extremist view of Islam. He was killed in a shootout with Philippine police in 1998. Command of the group was then taken by his younger brother Khadaffy Janjalani [HAH-dah-fee JAHN-jah-lah-nee].

Abu Sayyaf had close ties with and received support from Muslim extremists, including al-Qaida terrorists, in Afghanistan, south Asia, and the Middle East. In the early 1990s, members of Abu Sayyaf met with Osama bin Laden's brother-in-law, an al-Qaida operative. Ramzi Yousef, a terrorist now in prison for his part in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, is also believed to have had contact with Abu Sayyaf.

Abu Sayyaf terrorists have a reputation for savagery. They have kidnapped, robbed, raped, and murdered civilians, often beheading the victims. Abu Sayyaf is afraid to attack Philippine troops and military installations. In 1995, some two-hundred Abu Sayyaf gunmen attacked the predominately Roman Catholic village of Ipil [EE-pil], south of Manila. For twenty-one hours, the terrorists burned, plundered, and killed. They massacred fifty-three people, wounded forty-four, and took thirteen hostage.

In 2000, the group attacked Sipadan [see-pah-dahn], a Malaysian diving resort, and took ten Western tourists and eleven Asian workers hostage. Libya reportedly paid twenty-five million dollars to secure the release of the hostages.

To its credit, the Philippine government has resolutely refused to negotiate with Abu Sayyaf terrorists or give in to their demands. The U.S. and the Philippines are now joined together in the campaign against a global enemy -- international terrorism.