New Army chief focuses sights on Janjalani

New Army chief Lt. Gen. Romeo Tolentino is firming up all information on the whereabouts of the elusive Abu Sayyaf chief Khadaffy Janjalani before launching an intensified but discreet manhunt.

Vowing to crush terrorist groups in the country, Tolentino said getting Janjalani and his links to the al-Qaeda network is one of the top priorities of the Philippine Army, along with efforts to break the long-drawn communist insurgency.

"As of now, the information I have (about Janjalani) is hazy because I was focused on the communist insurgents being an area commander (of the Northern Luzon Command)," Tolentino recalled of his previous assignment.

A veteran of Sulu where conflict with the extremist group is rife, Tolentino said they almost caught Janjalani before.

Janjalani was hiding in Central Mindanao along with militants Umar Patek and Dulmatin of the Indonesia-based Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), which also has links to al-Qaeda.

But Janjalani managed to escape from the region late last year, reportedly along with the two JI operatives — Dulmatin and Umar Patek — tagged as key suspects in the October 2002 bombings in Bali, Indonesia that killed more than 200 people, most of them Australian tourists.

Southern Command chief Maj. Gen. Gabriel Habacon said small-scale active military offensive against the Abu Sayyaf has been ongoing while surveillance continues on all possible sites where Janjalani is seeking refuge.

Habacon said they are constricting the areas where Janjalani could hide by getting the support of communities. By giving stability and security to a community, government is able to get the people’s sympathy, making their community hostile ground for terrorists.

Varied intelligence reports from military and police said Janjalani escaped to either Sulu or Sabah in Malaysia.

However, no military official could confirm any sightings except for raw information that Janjalani was seen by villagers in the remote areas of Sulu.

Tolentino vowed to focus on counterterrorism efforts that will help them trap Janjalani in a military dragnet, allaying fears that the government is "condoning" terrorism. — Roel Pareño