‘2 JI bombers met with Janjalani at MILF camp in 2004’

Two Indonesian Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) militants had a meeting with Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khaddafy Janjalani at a training camp of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) somewhere in the dense jungles of central Mindanao in mid-2004, a police report said.

The two men, who had pleaded guilty of carrying out a bombing of a passenger bus in Balintawak, Quezon City in October 2002, had received training in bomb-making at the MILF camp, the report said.

According to the report, citing the testimony of Gamal Baharan, one of the suspects in the Balintawak bus bombing, the meeting and training were held at an MILF base camp.

The close relationship between the groups, which has sprung up in recent years, underlines concerns after the latest bombing on the Indonesian resort of Bali that Islamic militants are finding common cause and a haven in Mindanao’s rugged mountains and dense jungles.

"Delineations are becoming particularly difficult as the groups increasingly work together," Zachary Abuza, an expert on Southeast Asian Islamic militancy, wrote in a recent report.

"Increasingly, Mindanao is seen (by Jemaah Islamiyah) not just as a rear base of operations, but as a potential center of operations," he said.

Abuza said there were about 25 known JI militants based in Mindanao, many acting as trainers in MILF camps.

That includes Dulmatin, a senior JI member suspected of helping to plan and execute the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings and for whose capture the United States last week raised its bounty to $10 million.

The JI has also been blamed for suicide bombings on Oct. 1 in Bali that killed 23 people.

While the MILF leadership denies having links to radical groups, individual commanders sympathetic to JI’s cause and disillusioned with their leaders’ peace talks with the government are believed to have no such scruples.

Analysts say the Abu Sayyaf’s return to its Islamist roots in recent years after a kidnap-for-ransom spree has helped it strengthen ties with Indonesian militants and the MILF, which had previously criticized the group’s activities as "un-Islamic."

"I would say there’s a lot more cooperation with Abu Sayyaf than there was a few years ago," said Sidney Jones, Southeast Asia project director for the International Crisis Group.

Jones said JI was only one of several Indonesian Islamic militant groups whose members were receiving training and pooling resources with Filipino extremists.

"It’s a very confused picture in terms of the organizational affiliations of the people," he said.

MILF-controlled areas have provided a rare refuge for the JI in the region, in the wake of the sustained crackdown on the group and arrests of senior members after the first Bali bombing.

Despite a recent stepping up of patrols, the vast, porous sea border between Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines remains virtually impossible to police effectively. This is an area where Abu Sayyaf operates almost at will.

The Abu Sayyaf, while only numbering a few hundred members, also provides the JI with a partner that has no qualms about attacking civilian targets — as it showed with coordinated Valentine’s Day bombings that simultaneously rocked the cities of Makati, General Santos and Davao, killing 10 people.

For the MILF, the benefits of cooperation are less obvious.

US officials, impatient with the MILF’s failure to break its links with radicals, have threatened to add the group to its terrorist list in a move that could derail the peace talks.

But there are questions over how much control the MILF leadership has over individual commanders, some of whom are expected to break away if a peace deal falls short of its stated goal of an independent Muslim homeland in Mindanao.

"That’s the tactical problem," Southern Command chief Lt. Gen. Edilberto Adan said.

"There are their followers who do not believe in the direction of the peace talks," he said.

Still, analysts say that a peace deal with the MILF remains the best hope of driving militants away from Mindanao.

Optimism is high on both sides that a deal will be signed as early as this year, but that may only mark the beginning of a new struggle over how the agreement is implemented.

Benedicto Bacani, executive director of the Institute for Autonomy and Governance in Mindanao, questioned the government’s commitment to implementing a deal that would satisfy local Muslims’ desire for genuine self-rule.

"Unfortunately, we don’t see that reaching out" by the government, Bacani said. "I’m not optimistic about an agreement being implemented."

Closing In

Immigration authorities, on the other hand, are helping out in tracking down two Indonesian militants by including them in their blacklist of foreign nationals.

Dulmatin and Umar Patek, both reported JI operatives wanted in the Bali bombings, have been placed on the immigration watch list following reports they were hiding in Mindanao.

The US government, through its embassy in Manila, offered last Saturday a reward of $10 million and $1 million for any information that would lead to the capture of Dulmatin and Patek, respectively.

The reward for Dulmatin’s capture is so far the second highest money offered by the US government. International fugitive Osama bin Laden, the leader of the al-Qaeda terror network, still holds the highest bounty on his head at $25 million.

Immigration Commissioner Alipio Fernandez Jr. said they have implemented measures to prevent the two alleged terrorists from entering or leaving the country.

"Our immigration officers in various airports and seaports have been instructed to apprehend these Indonesians and immediately turn them over to the military or police authorities," he said.

Fernandez has ordered immigration field officers to be on the lookout, particularly for foreigners entering via the country’s southern backdoor.

Thousands of Indonesians are reportedly illegally staying in Mindanao. Fernandez said the presence of numerous Indonesians and other illegal aliens prompted them to implement a registration program.

Among the areas being watched by immigration are ports in the cities of Zamboanga, Davao, Sarangani, General Santos and Cotabato in Mindanao; and ports in Puerto Princesa and Brooke’s Point in Palawan.

A contingent of Philippine Marines has been deployed at these points, which are nearest to Indonesia, Fernandez said. — Edu Punay