Golez belittles Abu links to al-Qaeda

In their dreams.

This was how National Security Adviser Roilo Golez laughed off the claims of Abu Sayyaf bandits that they have links with the Al-Qaeda terrorist organization of Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden.

In an exclusive briefing for The STAR on Monday, Golez said the Abu Sayyaf group (ASG) neither has the capability nor sophistication to link up with international Islamist terrorist organizations like Al Qaeda, Hamas or Hezbollah.

"They have no capability to be classified as ‘transnational terrorists,’ like the Hamas or Hezbollah which can go transnational," Golez told STAR editors and reporters.

The Hamas and Hezbollah are well-entrenched Islamist terrorist organizations that have been tagged for dozens of terrorist acts over the past three decades.

Golez, however, said the Abu Sayyaf’s only claim to notoriety before the international community was their continued detention of American missionary couple Martin and Gracia Burnham who were abducted from an island resort in Palawan on May 27.

"The reason the ASG is on the radarscope (of the US) is because they’re holding two American hostages and not because they can inflict damage to US installations outside the Philippines," Golez said.

While the government is concerned the Abu Sayyaf continues to hold the Burnhams and several Filipino hostages, Golez belittled the claims of ASG which appears to be riding on the media attention given to international terrorism after the attacks on New York and Washington.

The ASG made the claims through its spokesman Abu Sabaya who again gave an on-air telephone interview to a Zamboanga City radio station on Monday.

But, Golez disclosed, that voice stress analysis conducted by American experts on Sabaya’s interview indicated that the ASG spokesman was "confused" and "nervous."

"They have been on the run and they (the American experts) detected in Sabaya’s voice that he is confused," Golez said.

The military has been pursuing the ASG since they surfaced in Basilan island shortly after they raided the Palawan resort and Golez said the military operations are tightening around the ASG, who are quickly running out of hiding places.

Aside from such speech and voice experts, the US government has also extended "other forms of assistance" to the Philippine campaign against the ASG but refused to elaborate.

The US government, Golez said, has also expressed satisfaction at the military operations which are being conducted to rescue the American hostages although one of the three original hostages, Guillermo Sobero, was confirmed executed by the bandits.

"They (the US) see the results and the situation in Basilan. The operations there have been very good," Golez added.

Golez likewise dismissed reports by escaped hostages that "Arab-looking" foreigners were seen meeting with ASG leaders.

"It’s hard to believe foreigners would enter into war zones, like in Basilan," he pointed out. "We have to realize that some fair-complexioned Filipinos can also be mistaken for Arabs."

He cited as examples Muslim leaders Al Tillah and former Gov. Zacaria Candao as sufficiently fair-skinned to pass off as Arabs.