After Iraq’s Zarqawi, Janjalani is new target of security forces

ZAMBOANGA CITY – Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khaddafi Janjalani and two other extremists belonging to the regional Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terror network are now being lined up for target following the successful operation against Iraq’s top militant leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, senior intelligence sources disclosed here.

The elusive Janjalani, who carries a $1-million bounty on his head, led the Abu Sayyaf in a kidnapping spree and terror attacks on Filipinos and foreigners in Mindanao.

Janjalani reportedly had taken refuge with Dulmatin and Umar Patek, both tagged as key suspects in the deadly Bali bombings in Indonesia in 2002.

While there are suspicions that Janjalani and the two JIs are hiding somewhere in Sabah, Malaysia, the presence of US special forces troops at a training exercise in Sulu triggered speculations that a special operation with Filipino security forces is in the works against them.

National Security Adviser Secretary Norberto Gonzales, however, kept silent over the supposed covert military operations in Sulu targeting the three fugitives.

"It’s difficult to comment on this one because I don’t want to jeopardize what (they are) doing," he said.

"But they are clearly the personalities that we want to see being in the hands of the authorities," he said.

Gonzales though admitted the assault on Zarqawi and his top lieutenants impacted strongly on the network of terrorism in terms of support.

But the morale of terrorists could be affected only so much as terrorists have their own set of beliefs, he said.

Gonzales called on international terrorism experts here not to engage in a statistical game of merely tabulating the number of terrorists getting killed or neutralized in the Philippines.

"Let’s not engage in that," Gonzales said in reaction to reports of Singapore-based terrorism expert Rohan Gunaratna that 36 JI militants are holed up in the dense jungles of southern Philippines and working with homegrown terrorists.

"The point here is (that) they are here and efforts have been addressed to get them," he said.

He stressed the vigilance of the people is the most important tool to defeat the terrorists.

"It is better to be afraid. You know, I have been often criticized for raising unnecessary panic or alarm, but when you are scared you become more careful and that is important," he said.

Gonzales claimed the Philippine government is gaining ground in the fight against terrorism in this part of the region.

However, Gonzales warned the worst may not be over since the global menace continues in other parts of the world and it would continue to find its way to other places.

Gunaratna warned terror attacks will likely ensue following the release next week of Abu Bakar Bashir, the militant Indonesian Muslim cleric who was jailed in connection with the 2002 Bali bombings.

Bashir, the alleged spiritual leader of the al-Qaeda-linked JI, is scheduled to be freed on Wednesday after serving 26 months for conspiracy in the bombings on the Indonesian resort island that killed 202 people, many of them foreign tourists.

Gunaratna claimed Bashir’s release "will be a big boost to jihadists."

"He must never come out of prison," Gunaratna told a forum with the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines.

Asked if he expects terror activities to follow Bashir’s release, he said: "Yes, certainly, because there will be more support for jihadism. The jihad bubble will grow."

Gunaratna’s comments reflected concerns expressed in recent months by other terrorism analysts.

Bashir, whose 30-month sentence was reduced for good behavior, has denied any involvement in terror attacks.

In addition to the 2002 Bali bombings, the JI is accused of carrying attacks in the Indonesian capital in 2003 and 2004 that together killed 21 people, and a triple suicide bombing again on Bali last October that killed 20.

Bashir will return home on his release so that he can resume his teachings at an Islamic school he founded in central Java, according to his lawyer.

Many of Indonesia’s convicted terrorists attended Bashir’s Ngruki Islamic school, which he established more than 30 years ago.

"I think that Bashir’s release will send the wrong signal to the jihadists — that you can be the head of a terrorist group and you can still be free," Gunaratna said.

He described Bashir as a "very charismatic leader" who can "galvanize more groups."

"Bashir is also the leader of... the Mujahedeen Council of Indonesia, the umbrella organization of jihad groups in Indonesia," Gunaratna said.

"He will mobilize them, he will politicize them. He has the credentials because he went to prison and suffered. So people will join him, people will worship him, that is why he must stay in prison forever."

Bashir’s lawyer, Mahendradata, has expressed hope the Indonesian government would not bow to foreign pressure to keep the 68-year-old cleric behind bars.

Hamid Awaluddin, the Indonesian minister of justice and human rights, has said he was unaware of any country seeking to keep Bashir in prison.

Australia, which lost 88 citizens in the Bali blasts, has said repeatedly in the past that the original sentence was too short. — With AP