Palace insists RP no longer a terrorist haven

Malacañang has shrugged off reports that one of two principal suspects in last week’s bombing of the Australian embassy in Jakarta gave bomb-making lessons to terrorists in Mindanao.

Reacting to an Associated Press dispatch that terrorist suspect Azahari bin Husin had taught terrorists in Mindanao, Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said the region is no longer a refuge for terrorists, who will not find any "hospitable nook" in the country.

"The past links of (Jemaah Islamiyah) in the country are well known and accepted, but these have been largely dismantled through a continuous string of arrests and raids in JI lairs," he said.

"The threat lurks in the deep underground, and there are clandestine connections across our borders, but we are closely watching the situation in partnership with vigilant communities and allies in the region," Bunye said.

He said the ceasefire between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) does not guarantee that the JI has been completely eliminated in the country even if the agreement bounds the rebels not to give sanctuary to terrorists.

"That means we’re going after them, and we’re also relying on the assistance of the MILF, especially in the areas that are claimed by the MILF," he said.

"They are constantly on the run because operations are being conducted against them," Bunye said.

However, an anti-terrorist official confirmed yesterday that Husin and his suspected terrorist partner, Noordin Top, are explosives experts being tracked down by government agents after they were monitored to have entered the country several years ago.

"We have reports later claiming that Husin and Top while in Mindanao served as guest lecturers at all JI training camps in Central Mindanao," the official said.

The official said there has been "a good number" of foreign terrorist instructors who were monitored to have come and gone through the southern backdoor.

"Dati marami ang mga iyan pero nagkawalaan na matapos makuha natin ang (Camp) Abubakar," the official said. "Among those who simply vanished are Husin and Top."

Some of these terrorists have been captured in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, the official added.

Troops seized volumes of documents, including foreign passports, from Camp Abubakar when it fell into government hands in mid-2000.

Meanwhile, former President Fidel Ramos said Monday the Philippines must reestablish its alliance with neighboring countries to combat terrorism in the region.

"We should reconsider what we did after the Sept. 11 (2001) attacks, when we joined forces with Indonesia and Malaysia against terroristic activities," he told a press conference in Makati.

Ramos had just arrived from an international economic conference in Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia.

The government said yesterday its anti-terror assaults have cut most ties between al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah and local terrorists.

Officials have bolstered security nationwide and given such assurances to ease terror attack fears following last week’s bombing of the Australian embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Defense officials said last month that up to 25 Jemaah Islamiyah militants may still be training recruits in the south.

The International Crisis Group, an independent Brussels-based research organization, also reported in July that Jemaah Islamiyah continues to maintain loose operational and training links with the MILF. — Marichu Villanueva, Jaime Laude, Edu Punay