‘JI presence in South neutralized’

Government troops have effectively "neutralized" the al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terror network in Mindanao, Malacañang said yesterday.

Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye denied news reports that some 600 JI terrorists have been spotted with Islamic separatists in jungle camps in Mindanao.

"While it is true that there are JI operatives being hunted down in the South, they are not in the hundreds," Bunye said.

"The figures reported are exaggerated. There are JI operatives in the country, but they are not in the hundreds. This limited presence is confirmed by captured JI leaders themselves," Bunye added.

He said the Oct. 12 killing of JI bomb maker Fathur Rohman al-Ghozi and the capture of Taufek Refke, the group’s No. 2 man in Mindanao, showed that terrorists "cannot roam with impunity" in the Philippines.

"The JI leadership core has been debilitated and its members are on the run," Bunye said.

"Sooner or later the law will catch up with them. The neutralization of Al-Ghozi and Taufek Refke vividly demonstrate that (JI members) cannot roam with impunity," he added.

JI will continue to sow terror if the flow of training of its recruits is not cut off in Mindanao, Time Magazine Asia reported.

In its Dec. 15 issue, the American newsmagazine said Mindanao has "replaced" Afghanistan as a haven for terrorists.

"While there’s enough command and control to get people to the Mindanao camps, JI is very much alive," terror expert Zachary Abuza, who is author of the book "Militant Islam in Southeast Asia," told Time.

The report said it was "critical" for authorities from the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia to block the entry of terrorist trainees to Mindanao.

The newsmagazine said a "recent intelligence report prepared by the Philippine military" pointed out that 600 militants from JI, the Southeast Asian arm of Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda network, are in at least three camps in Mindanao.

A "number of JI safehouses" in Mindanao and Metro Manila were also detailed in the military report entitled the "Jemaah Islamiyah situationer" dated Dec. 8.

National Security Adviser Roilo Golez denied the allegations in the Time report.

"That’s wrong," he told Time. "Very, very wrong. I can bet my future, my career and my life that it’s not true."

Although a majority of the trainees are Indonesians, the Dec. 8 military report said many MILF guerrillas are also training in the camps, one of which is said to be guarded by MILF rebels.

In Davao City, Indonesian Vice Consul Johannes Maguinsela said his government will cooperate with Philippine authorities in hunting down JI terrorists.

"It is the intelligence report of Philippine authorities and we respect it," he said. "But rest assured we are willing to cooperate with authorities here on whatever matters that need our help."

Earlier, Defense Secretary Eduardo Ermita confirmed intelligence reports that 31 JI terrorists have been training with guerrillas of the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Quoting military intelligence reports, Ermita said the mostly Indonesian trainees were in MILF-held territories around Mt. Karanaw in Lanao del Norte and the terrorist-named Mt. Vietnam in Lanao del Sur.

Ermita said that the JI also recruits Filipinos to train them in bomb-making and other terrorist skills.

"They are looking for an opportunity to sow terror," he said.

Lt. Col. Daniel Lucero, Armed Forces public information officer, said some JI terrorists might have returned home to Indonesia or transferred to other countries.

"They may be hare two years ago, but they could have left and returned to Indonesia," he said. "That is actually a rough estimate on how many members. What is clear is there are indeed JI presence in Central Mindanao."

The MILF, which is holding peace talks with the government, has denounced terrorism and has repeatedly denied any involvement with JI.

However, the Time report noted that secrecy practiced by the JI is one of its strengths, with its cells being able to "function as independent, clandestine units with scant knowledge of the rest of the organization."

Citing intelligence reports, Time said one of JI’s "best-kept secrets" is the "ambitious scale of its training camps in Mindanao, which has replaced Afghanistan as the preferred location for learning how to wage terror."

"Even more alarming: more than a year after Bali, both the camps and the supply routes for recruits appear to be functioning normally," the Time report said.

"According to a source close to the police investigations who has reviewed the bulk of seized JI documents, the organization’s own accounting shows that some 3,000 trainees have passed through Mindanao since the mid-1990s."

Quoting regional intelligence officials, the Time report said the JI will not be disabled even with the arrests of its top leaders as long as there is a steady recruitment and training of members in Mindanao.

"Even the arrests of many of its leaders in the past 18 months won’t cripple it, particularly as long as the pipeline of men and weapons to and from the southern Philippines remains open," the report said.

The MILF, which has been waging a 25-year rebellion in Mindanao, has denied the report.

It was committed to resuming peace talks with the government, the MILF added.

Al-Ghozi was convicted for illegal explosives possession in Manila and has admitted to plotting a string of Metro Manila bombings in 2000 with the help of JI operations chief Hambali.

Al-Ghozi escaped from jail in July, but was gunned down three months later in Mindanao.

Refke was arrested by authorities in a raid, also in October. Officials said he was the "finance officer" of the JI in Mindanao.

JI is said to be the Southeast Asian wing of terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda network, and was found to be responsible for the deadly Bali bombings last year. — Ann Corvera, Marichu Villanueva, Christina Mendez, Edith Regalado, AFP