StormWarning’s Counterterrorism

In what is being described as a “ruse” French-Columbian politician Ingrid Betancourt was dramatically released today from captivity by the FARC. Six years following her kidnapping in which she was held in a deep jungle hideout, she reportedly suffers from a variety of medical problems including hep-B, malnutrition, liver ailments, tropical skin diseases and depression.

Columbian Defense Minister Santos claims that his undercover agents inflitrated the FARC and then, by convincing the local leader, Cesar, that they were going to bring Betancourt, three Americans and 11 Columbian military who were also held captive, to Alfonso Cano, FARC supreme leader. Divided into 3 groups, the hostages were transported to disguised helicopters…once airborne, the military revealed themselves and had Cesar in handcuffs.

The operation, Santos said, “will go into history for its audacity and effectiveness.”

“We wanted to have it happen as it did today,” added armed forces chief Gen. Freddy Padilla. “Without a single shot. Without anyone wounded. Absolutely safe and sound, without a scratch.”

This is another chink in the FARC movement following the “heart attack” death of Manuel Marulanda and the killing of two other FARC leaders. Clearly, the rebel movement is damaged, and just as clearly, this is a significant event. While the Uribe government declares a willingness to negotiate with the rebels to end the 40 year fight, declaring a premature victory battle against the FARC would be wrong.

Betancourt, 46, was abducted in February 2002. The Americans were captured a year later when their drug surveillance plane went down in rebel-held jungle. In the five years since, their families had received only two “proof of life” videos, the latest in November.

President Bush and Senators John McCain and Barack Obama all congratulated the Uribe government on the successful release. McCain, along with Senators Lieberman and Graham were in Columbia and were briefed by Uribe prior to the operation.

These things do not always go well. Just a few years ago in 2002, a similar situation with the Burnhams in the Philippines went totally wrong when a Philippine Commando raid ended in the death of Martin Burnham and a Filipina nurse.

Notable among others is the Right Truth who wrote an article on this today (you might also note her comment to this post below).

Alfonso Cano, Betancourt, Columbia, Defense Minister Santos, FARC, Uribe

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Abu Sayyaf, Islamist militant group in the southern Philippines is the primary suspect in the bombing of a Catholic Church last Sunday in Zamboanga City, nearly 900 km south of Manila.

Superintendent Jonathan Perez, city police director, said the bombs used in the two attacks were similar to those used in previous attacks by Muslim Abu Sayyaf rebels in the southern Philippines.

“There has been a threat in our area and the Abu Sayyaf rebels are the ones who could be behind it,” he said.

Superintendent Jose Bayani Gucela, head of the police regional explosive ordinance and disposal unit, said the bomb that exploded at the Metropolitan Immaculate Cathedral compound was made from a 60-millimetre and 81-millimetre mortars attached to a digital timer.

Zamboanga City Mayor Celso Lobregat is urging the people not to give into the threats of terror. Considering that Abu Sayyaf has been a serious threat to the people of the Philippines long before they became associated with al Qaeda, I wonder if this braggadocio is warranted. We’ll see what happens next.

abu sayyaf, Zamboanga, جماعة أبو سياف

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A splinter of the Philippine Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Abu Sayyaf has long been a vicious and violent terrorist group.  Often, they funded their violence through kidnappings.  Today, the US Treasury Dept. announced that 3 Saudi nationals were cited as Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs) under Executive Order 13224 for funding Abu Sayyaf.

So once again, our “friends and allies” the Saudis are connected to financing of terrorism elsewhere.  The dots are so clear to see, and yet…and yet it is also clear of the linkage of Abu Sayyaf to al Qaeda…and yet…Saudi Arabia is our “ally.”

In fact, it is suspected that some Abu Sayyaf members fought against the Russians in Afghanistan.  Abu Sayyaf’s stated goal is to establish an independent Islamic State in the heavily Muslim areas in western Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago.  Despite these “loftily expressed goals” however, Abu Sayyaf has  used terror for financial profit. although their most recent actions have become more violent and terorrist-like.

The group’s first large-scale action was a raid on the town of Ipil in Mindanao in April 1995. In April 2000, an ASG faction kidnapped 21 persons, including ten Western tourists, from a resort in Malaysia. In May 2001, the ASG kidnapped three U.S. citizens and 17 Filipinos from a tourist resort in Palawan, Philippines. Several of the hostages, including U.S. citizen Guillermo Sobero, were murdered. A Philippine military hostage rescue operation in June 2002 freed U.S. hostage Gracia Burnham, but her husband Martin Burnham and Filipina Deborah Yap were killed. U.S. and Philippine authorities blame the ASG for exploding a bomb near a Philippine military base in Zamboanga in October 2002 that killed a U.S. serviceman. In February 2004, Khadaffy Janjalani’s faction bombed SuperFerry 14 in Manila Bay, killing 132. In March 2004, Philippine authorities arrested an ASG cell whose bombing targets included the U.S. Embassy in Manila. The ASG also claimed responsibility for the 2005 Valentine’s Day bombings in Manila, Davao City, and General Santos City, which killed 8 and injured more than 150.

Note that the above description of the attempted freeing of the Burnhams is overly kind to the bumbling of the Philippine military that essentially launched a premature, and therefore failed rescue operation.  Also, despite Philippine government efforts to stem Abu Sayyaf’s influence and terror, including the killing of  Jainal Antel Sali Jr., AKA Abu Sulaiman at the beginning of this year (and the previous killing of Khadaffy Janjalani), Abu Sayyaf continues unrelentedly.

Anyway, Zachary Abuza’s post on Counterterrorism Blog,  Treasury Department Announces Designation of 3 Saudi Nationals for Their Support of Abu Sayyaf details the Treasury Department news release.  One of these Saudi “son of a pig,”  Muhammad Abdullah Saikh Sughayr is also connected to providing funding support to  Jemaah Islamiyah.  Also in Abuza’s post you find these observations:

As always with the Treasury Department’s press releases, what is left unsaid is often far more interesting. For one, there is no mention of the MILF, which has just avoided for the sake of the peace process, being kept off the FTO list. Second, the pressure that the Saudi Arabian government put on Sughayr’s extradition suggests that he had high-level political connections who sought to protect him. Third, with greater international scrutiny (I refuse to label it a crackdown) on the Saudi big-four charities, World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY), the International Islamic Relief Organization (IIRO), al Haramain, and the Muslim World League (MWL), we should expect to see more money – in particular cash - for Islamist militants coming through individual funders, rather than more formal networks.

These three were not the first Saudis to be designated for their role in funding the ASG. On 3 August 2006, another Saudi national, Abd al-Hamid Sulaiman Al-Mujil, was proscribed on the SDGT list and placed on the UNSC’s 1267 Committee listing.

The following “three sons of pigs” were cited by U.S. Treasury action under E.O. 13224 also implements yesterday’s decision by the UN 1267 Committee to include these three persons on its Consolidated List of persons and entities associated with al Qaida, the Taliban, or Usama bin Laden. This UN decision obligates UN member countries around the world to freeze the assets of the designees.

Abdul Rahim Al-Talhi
ADDRESS: Buraydah, Saudi Arabia
DOB: December 8, 1961
POB: Al-Taif, Saudi Arabia
NATIONALITY: Saudi Arabian
PASSPORT: F275043, issued 05/29/04, expires 04/05/09

Muhammad `Abdallah Salih Sughayr
DOB: August 20, 1972
Alternate DOB: August 10, 1972
POB: Al-Karawiya, Saudi Arabia
NATIONALITY: Saudi Arabian

Fahd Muhammad `Abd Al-`Aziz Al-Khashiban
DOB: October 16, 1966
POB: `Aniza, Saudi Arabia
NATIONALITY: Saudi Arabian

Information on the Moro Islamic Liberation Front from the Federation of American Scientists.  So what’s up with MILF?  How about this?   JI suspect claims he was trained by MILF.

Philippine authorities have repeatedly linked the country’s largest Muslim rebel group to the radical Indonesian group Jemaah Islamiah (JI) and the Saudi Arabia’s al-Qaeda terror network.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has strongly denied all allegations against them and its chieftain, the secluded but moderate Murad Ebrahim repeatedly denounced violence and terrorism.

But for the first time, the MILF said there could be rogue members providing clandestine military trainings to JI militants without them knowing.

An unnamed former JI militant arrested in Singapore has told authorities there that he received weapons training from the MILF in the southern Philippines, according to a report by the Malay language newspaper, Berita Harian, published on Saturday…

Dare I say (or write) that the dots are so clear that they won’t disappear if I clean my eye glasses?  Earlier this week, still another leader of Abu Sayyaf (Abdurajak Sadikal) was killed in an encounter with Marine and Navy officers in Basilan last week.

See more news about Abu Sayyaf here.
Council of Foreign Relations summary on Abu Sayyaf.

Please see cross post on Real Clear Politics.

Finally,  Remarks, Briefings, Releases from the U.S. State Department about the Philippines.

–08/02/07  Remarks at the ASEAN Regional Forum; Christopher R. Hill, Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs; Remarks to the Media; Manila, Philippines
–08/01/07  Remarks at ASEAN Post Ministerial Conference; John Negroponte, Deputy Secretary of State ; Remarks with International Press; Manila, Philippines
–08/01/07  Remarks at the ASEAN Regional Forum; Christopher R. Hill, Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs; Remarks to the Media; Manila, Philippines
–08/01/07  Statement at the ASEAN Post Ministerial Conference; John Negroponte, Deputy Secretary of State; Manila, Philippines
–07/24/07  Deputy Secretary of State Negroponte to Lead U.S. Delegation to ASEAN Meetings
–05/25/07  Remarks Upon Departure From Manila; Christopher R. Hill, Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs; Ninoy Aquino International Airport; Manila, Philippines
–05/25/07  Interview by the Philippines’ GMA 7 TV; Christopher R. Hill, Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs; Manila, Philippines
–05/25/07  Press Availability in Manila; Christopher R. Hill, Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs; Makati Shangri-La Hotel; Manila, Philippines
–03/14/07  Extrajudicial Killings in the Philippines: Strategies to End the Violence; Eric G. John, Deputy Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs; Statement Before the Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs Senate Committee on Foreign Relations; Washington, DC

Please see cross post on Real Clear Politics.

Abdurajak Sadikal, abu sayyaf, al Qaeda, Executive Order 13224, Jemaah Islamiah, MILF, Moro Islamic Liberation Front

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