Stepped-up al-Qaeda attacks feared before feast of Ramadan

Police and military officials expressed fears yesterday that al-Qaeda-linked terrorists may step up their activities in the Philippines and other Southeast Asian nations ahead of the forthcoming Muslim holy month of Ramadan in November.

Two ranking police and military officials said the attacks would likely be aimed at American and Israeli targets and would be launched by al-Qaeda or Jemaah Islamiyah cells that have allegedly been set up in several Southeast Asian countries, including the Philippines.

"We are seeing stepped up terrorist attacks against American and Israeli targets not only in the country but in other Southeast Asian countries in the days ahead because of the forthcoming Ramadan," said the police official,who asked for anonymity.

The military official, on the other hand, explained that the extremist groups, like the Middle East-based Hamas and Hezbollah, usually step up their terrorist activities shortly before Ramadan.

"The Zamboanga and Kidapawan explosions could just be the beginning of stepped-up terrorist attacks," the two officials said, referring to the Oct. 2 bombing in Zamboanga City that killed an American soldier and three Filipino civilians and the Oct.10 bombing in Kidapawan City that killed eight Filipinos.

Scores were wounded scores in both attacks that is still under investigation.

But Rep. Wilfredo Villarama (Aksiyon Demokratiko, Bulacan) expressed doubt on reports that the Al-Qaeda has established terrorist cells in Central Luzon, particularly in Bulacan.

He said police and military intelligence officials should not cause undue panic by leaking information to media and claimed the media leaks may be part of a ploy of the US government to justify US military presence in the country.

"Powerful countries can resort to gimmicks to get their way and we are really a helpless country. We are poor. We are deeply indebted to them. Our institutions are under their control," Villarama said during a "peace forum" organized by leftist groups.

"If indeed Al-Qaeda cells are now in Central Luzon, then would the (Visiting Forces Agreement) follow?" Villarama asked, referring to joint RP-US military exercises conducted under the VFA.

"There is perhaps some benefit in making people aware of the possibility of the presence of terrorist groups but caution must be exercised in releasing such information that might cause panic," he said.

"The Bulacan police director (Senior Superintendent Felizardo Serapio) has not informed me about such developments yet but I want to look into it," Villarama said.

But no less than Central Luzon police director Chief Superintendent Oscar Calderon told The STAR last week that while police could not directly link terrorist cells in Central Luzon to the Jemaah Islamiyah, they have established their links to the al-Qaeda terror network of Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden.

"It would be safer to say that the Rajah Sulaiman (Revolutionary Committee) has links with al-Qaeda," Calderon said in an interview.

Former Central Luzon intelligence officials confirmed that the group is known to have received funding from suspected terrorist Nhedal Al-Dalain, a Jordanian, who has already been deported as an undesirable alien.

Police believe that another Jordanian, Mohammad Amin Al-Ghaffari, who was arrested on Monday on immigration charges, is also believed to be the leader of the Rajah Sulaiman Revolutionary Committee, which established the terrorist training camps in Pangasinan and Tarlac.

The sources said Al-Ghaffari, a long-time resident who is married to a Filipina, has long been under surveillance by the intelligence community for "suspicious" business activities.

He is supposed to be a close friend of Mohammad Jamal Khalifa, who used to be a frequent visitor to the country and is also married to a Filipino, who is alleged to be a brother-in-law of Bin Laden.

Khalifa established a foundation which the authorities believe is responsible for sending several Filipino extremists to al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan, one of whom was Abduradjak Janjalani, the slain founder of the Abu Sayyaf group.

An intelligence source in Central Luzon said these camps, where extremists were allegedly taught to make bombs, later had to move to Bulacan after police raided their camps in Pangasinan and Tarlac and arrested nine of their recruits in May.

The raid in San Clemente led to the arrest of a certain Dexter Mayuno, a Muslim convert from Makati City, and the killing of his companion Khalid Trinidad. In Pangasinan, those arrested were Dawud Santos, Pio de Vera, Marcelo Egil, Allan Borlagdatan, Redendo Delosa and Angelito Aris.

The Central Luzon police source said Mayuno confessed that the camp in Pangasinan was funded from a group in Saudi Arabia which was represented by Al-Dalain, who was believed to have collected funds from al-Qaeda to finance the Islamic studies of some converts in Luzon who were later trained to make bombs.