Sayyaf suspect allegedly trained by JI

A suspected Abu Sayyaf Muslim rebel accused of kidnapping said he was trained by Indonesian members of the Southeast Asian terror group Jemaah Islamiyah, an official said yesterday.

Nidjal Padjiran made the admission during questioning following his arrest last month in southern Zamboanga city for his alleged role in kidnappings in the southern Philippines, state prosecutor Peter Medalle said.

Padjiran said he and other Abu Sayyaf members were trained in bombing and other guerrilla warfare techniques on southern Jolo island in 2002 by two Indonesian militants belonging to al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah, according to Medalle.

However, a handcuffed Padjiran shook his head no when asked by reporters Wednesday if he had been trained by Jemaah Islamiyah, though he did acknowledge that he was once a member of the Abu Sayyaf.

A number of former Abu Sayyaf hostages have told the military about the terror training in Jolo’s jungles, and Washington has expressed concern over reported Jemaah Islamiyah camps in the country’s volatile south.

Outgoing Justice Secretary Merceditas Gutierrez said Padjiran has been charged for his alleged involvement in the kidnapping of six members of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Jolo, Sulu in 2002. Two of the hostages were beheaded and the rest escaped.

Padjiran, who has been identified by one of the former hostages, has asked to turn state’s witness, and the justice department is assessing whether he could qualify, Gutierrez said.

Justice officials said Padjiran may have also been involved in the 2000 abduction by Abu Sayyaf rebels of 21 mostly Western tourists from the Malaysian resort of Sipadan, and a bomb attack that killed a US soldier and two Filipino civilians in Zamboanga in October 2002.

Philippine officials now consider the group a spent force, down from about 1,000 guerrillas four years ago to about 300, mostly scattered on Jolo and the nearby provinces of Tawi-Tawi and Basilan.

Despite battle setbacks, the guerrillas have been linked to several recent terror plots and attacks. – Aurea Calica