Poor intelligence leaves RP open to attacks

Shabby intelligence and inadequate legislation have allowed Islamic militants to operate almost unhindered in the southern Philippines, giving them the freedom to plan attacks in the region, officials and analysts say.

Under current laws, authorities were earlier this year forced to release several high-profile suspected bombers who posted bail or were held on poorly gathered evidence.

The Philippine government is now rushing through an anti-terrorism law amid growing evidence of links between Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), which has been blamed for the weekend Bali blasts, and local militant groups led by the Abu Sayyaf.

The JI has been blamed for some 50 attacks since 1999 while the Abu Sayyaf is a small group of Islamic militants linked by the US and Philippine governments to the al-Qaeda network.

Indonesian police are hunting five suspects in connection with the Bali bombings, some of whom they said trained with militants in the southern Philippines.

Philippine police have denied that those who masterminded the attacks received training in camps in the southern Philippines. However, analysts say it is impossible to say for sure.

Peace talks between the government and the main separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) have also forced the military to tread cautiously in its hunt for JI and the more radical members of the Abu Sayyaf.

The MILF has been waging a rebellion since 1978 and once hosted foreign militants in its camps.

While Manila is positive of striking a final peace deal, there could be some truth to allegations that militant factions of the MILF could still be harboring JI militants, according to Maj. Dickson Hermoso, who heads the joint ceasefire committee.

"The ceasefire is holding but there are recalcitrant members of the MILF who may be harboring these elements," Hermoso told AFP.

A senior intelligence official who did not want to be named said nobody knew for certain just how far the JI web reached on the southern island of Mindanao.

But there were signs the JI had infiltrated many small factions that had morphed into independent cells that could strike any time, he said. — AFP