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FBI Seeks Philippine Help in Hunting Down Terrorists
JAKARTA, Oct 1 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has reportedly sought the assistance of the Philippines in their attempt to track down terrorists visiting the Philippines, news reports on Monday said.
The Inquirer newspaper in Manila said the U.S. Embassy's legal attaché told the Philippines the FBI needed the country's assistance to catch terrorists believed to be living there.
Philippine authorities said the FBI also wanted to know the names of suspected terrorists who might have visited the Philippines in order to trace them down to Osama Bin Laden's network in Mindanao.
Several key figures reportedly linked to the September 11th attack on the U.S. are believed to be in hiding in the Philippines, though authorities there could not say if these suspects had links with any of the movements in Mindanao.
Manila is working hard to get all the assistance it needs from the U.S. in an attempt to flush out its own "terrorists" and separatists.
The U.S. administration has stated that movements who plan on overthrowing legitimate regimes would be considered "terror" groups and has guaranteed and promised assistance to any such government that feels it is under attack by such "terror" groups.
U.S. authorities believe that the Philippines are a favorite haven for international terrorists based on past investigations. It also believes many of those on its list of suspects are hiding in the country.
Local authorities fear the U.S. crackdown in the Philippines may help local groups launch destabilization campaigns if the U.S. was to attack any Muslim nation in response to the attacks on the U.S.
"It appears that international terrorists still consider the Philippines a relatively safer place for their rest and recreation because of apparent laxity in our ports of entry," the Inquirer said Monday.
The paper said local officials suspected international terrorists had been frequenting Manila and several cities in Mindanao, which they consider "places of refuge".
Quoting sources from the FBI's Joint Terrorist Task Force, the paper disclosed that Arab veterans of the Soviet-Afghan war were known to have entered the country in the past, apparently linking up with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
Among these are an Arab mujahidin fighter who was monitored to have visited the MILF's Camp Abubakar from May to June last year at the height of the government's war with the secessionist group.
He later returned to Manila suffering from war shock, said the source.
Local investigators are also on the lookout for an unidentified Malaysian who is believed to be a close friend of Wali Khan Amin Shah, an associate of convicted 1993 World Trade Center bomber Ramzi Yousef.
The newspaper also confirmed that at least two of the convicted personalities in the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were known to have stayed in the Philippines for some time.
The two terrorists, both members of bin Laden's al-Qaeda (The Base) network, were identified as Mamdouh Mahmud Salim, alias Abu Hader, and Mohamed Sadeek Odeh.
Salim, who was recruited by bin Laden into al-Qaeda, was in and out of Manila from 1996 up to 1998.
Salim is suspected to be among those who planned the bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on Aug. 7, 1998 - an attack that left 11 people dead and 80 others injured.
Records show that Salim was arrested by German police and security officials in September 1998 and was subsequently extradited to the United States where he was eventually convicted for the Dar es Salaam bombing.
Odeh, a Palestinian from Jordan, was known to have stayed in Davao, where intelligence agents in front of the house where he lived photographed him.
Odeh is believed to have planned and trained bombers who attacked the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, on Aug. 7, 1998.
The attack, which was executed simultaneously with the Dar es Salaam bombing, resulted in 200 civilian deaths and the wounding of close to 5,000 people.
Odeh received training in Afghanistan before he joined bin Laden's organization in 1992. His first assignment was in Somalia where he reportedly trained
mujahidin fighters who killed 18 American soldiers.
In Kenya, bankrolled by al-Qaeda, he engaged in the fishing business and bought a seven-ton fishing boat. The proceeds of the business were later used to support fellow compatriots based in the East African country, the
Inquirer said.
Odeh was subsequently convicted and is now serving a life sentence for the Nairobi bombings.
With additional reporting by Kazi Mahmood
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