US hands out new posters of wanted terrorists

JOLO, Sulu — American troops have circulated new posters of the al-Qaeda-linked terror cell Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) and Abu Sayyaf for civilians that would help the military track the terrorists still believed hiding in the jungle of this island, officials said yesterday.

The new posters and leaflets carry the faces of eight high-ranking terrorist leaders and mid-level leaders and the bounties on their head.

The posters and leaflets also tell the public how they can contact and coordinate with the authorities if anyone spots these suspected terrorists.

The wanted men include Asia’s most wanted — JI’s Dulmatin and Umar Patek — as well as Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khadaffi Janjalani, Isnilon Hapilon, Abu Solaiman, Dr. Abu Pula and Radullan Sahiron.

The United States soldiers distributed the leaflets and tacked up posters near the Jolo town hall, where curious civilians easily picked up the leaflets.

Hundreds of the posters, leaflets, stickers, comic books and pens were circulated during the visit to Jolo on Monday of US Ambassador Kristie Kenney, US Pacific Command (Pacom) chief Admiral William Fallon, and Armed Forces chief of staff General Hermogenes Esperon Jr.

The posters bear the rewards for information leading to the capture of each of the suspected terrorists. Dulmatin carries the biggest bounty of $10 million, next to al-Qaeda terror cell chief Osama bin Laden who has a $20-million reward on his head. His cohort, Umar Patek has a $1-million bounty.

Dulmatin and Umar Patek are wanted for masterminding the 2002 Bali bombing in Indonesia that killed at least 202 people. The suspected JI leaders went into hiding with the Abu Sayyaf in Sulu.

Janjalani, Hapilon and Abu Solaiman each carry a $5-million bounty on their heads.

Maj. John Redfield, US Joint Special Operations Task Force Philippines (JSOTF-P) public affairs officer said: "The distribution of the wanted posters and leaflets was part of the information campaign to track down the (suspected) terrorists."

The distribution of the posters coincided with the awarding of reward money to two Muslim boys who tipped authorities off and enabled them to recover two powerful bombs, which had been planted by the JI and Abu Sayyaf in Indanan.

"It’s a good idea to re-emphasize (the wanted posters). There’s the telephone number on how to contact any information that would lead to the capture of the terrorists," Redfield said.

An additional 660 soldiers have been deployed since Sunday and augmented the 6,000 soldiers already hunting down the suspected terrorist leaders in the jungles of Sulu.

Esperon, who earlier told soldiers to get the "high-value targets" before Christmas, also briefed Fallon on their ongoing offensive against the terrorists.

Army officials also said the possibility of terrorist attacks in key urban centers in the country during the Christmas season will be "minimal," as the JI and Abu Sayyaf have already been contained in Sulu.

Philippine Army public information officer Maj. Ernesto Torres said they believe the JI members and the Abu Sayyaf bandits are already "contained" in Sulu province.

"The possibility of terror attacks would be minimal," Torres said. "There are reports, especially in (Mindanao) that the JI and Abu Sayyaf are still there. They are just contained because of the ongoing operations in Sulu," Torres told reporters at the weekly Fernandina Forum at the Club Filipino in Greenhills, San Juan town.

Torres also said: "We believe they are now contained to just Sulu province."

He has appealed to the Filipino people to work hand-in-hand with the authorities to achieve a terrorism-free Christmas: "We will always try to work towards a terror-free Christmas, that is what we would like to achieve but, again, it can only be possible with the help of everybody. The military alone cannot assure the public that terrorist activities will not happen, but we will always do our best and with the help of the civilians." — With Helen Flores