US to RP: Do more in war on terror

WASHINGTON — The United States has lauded the Philippines’ success in the war against terrorism but said the Arroyo administration could do much more if "generic problems in its law enforcement and criminal justice systems" were solved.

In a report Wednesday, the US said it was winning the war on terror even as it noted a sharp increase in terrorist activity in the world last year, with the number of attacks and deaths more than tripling.

The US National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), an arm of the Central Intelligence Agency, reported 651 terrorist attacks across the globe last year with 1,907 people killed.

This compares with 625 attacks involving 208 fatalities in 2003, according to US State Department figures released last year.

A total of 6,704 people were wounded in terrorist strikes in 2004, according to the center, compared to the 3,646 reported the year before. Another 710 people were taken hostage in 2004, the new report said.

But State Department Counselor Philip Zelikow said: "I think we are winning the war on terror but it is a very long struggle. And I want to triple underscore: No complacency."

The center released the figures for the first time and separately from an annual State Department "country report on terrorism" which said the global threat of terror remained "significant" to the US and its partners.

"The United States and other donor nations must intensify to bolster the political will and the intelligence, law enforcement, financial and military capabilities of partner nations to combat terrorism, on their own or with us," it said.

The same report lauded Manila’s steady fight against terrorism.

The 129-page document noted that Philippine security forces were able to eliminate a number of Abu Sayyaf rebels and arrest more than 60 suspected terrorists, including seven members of the al-Qaeda terror network and the Indonesian-based Jemaah Islamiyah. It also praised the virtual eradication of the kidnap-for-ransom gang known as Pentagon.

While the State Department document commended Manila for making progress in tracking, blocking and seizing terrorist assets, it also decried the absence of a law defining and codifying terrorist acts and restrictions on gathering of evidence.

This lack, it said, hindered the building of effective terrorism cases.

Corruption, low morale, inadequate salaries, recruitment and retention difficulties and lack of effective cooperation between police and prosecutors were cited as generic roadblocks to bringing terrorists to justice.

Terror in RP

In a chapter on the Philippines, the State Department noted the country suffered the worst terrorist attack in its history with the bombing by Abu Sayyaf rebels of SuperFerry 14 in Manila Bay near Corregidor Island, killing about 130 passengers.

On the plus side, it said Filipino authorities in March 2004 arrested seven Abu Sayyaf members responsible for the ferry bombing and killed six other Abu Sayyaf rebels in April in Basilan island in Mindanao.

The report also took note of the arrest last June of two commanders of the communist New People’s Army, which the US has labeled as a foreign terrorist organization along with the Abu Sayyaf. It also mentioned the military air strike against the Pentagon gang last year that destroyed its leadership and practically demolishing it as an organization.

Earlier this month, the State Department said it had decided not to publish statistics after widely publicized errors were found in figures for 2003 that had to be revised.

NCTC acting director John Brennan said the center used new methodology, statutory criteria and counting rules to capture the fresh statistics and that it was unfair to compare 2004 figures with previous years.

"An increased level of effort allowed a much deeper review of far more information and along with Iraq were the primary reasons for the significant growth in terrorist incidents being reported," he said. — With AFP