Pinoy militant leads Sayyaf faction

MANILA, Philippines – A Filipino militant wanted by Washington has become leader of a key faction of Abu Sayyaf, the al-Qaeda-linked extremist group in Mindanao, for which he has previously acquired foreign funding.

A military report said militant Khair Mundos has connections to funding donors from Saudi Arabia and Malaysia. It added he has an ideological bent and has begun giving Islamic religious training to Abu Sayyaf fighters.

The United States last year offered $500,000 for information leading to the capture or killing of Mundos, who was arrested by Philippine authorities in 2004 but escaped from a local jail in 2007.

While in police custody, Mundos confessed to having arranged the transfer of al-Qaeda funds to an Abu Sayyaf chief to finance bombings and other attacks, according to the US State Department.

The Abu Sayyaf, which means “Father of the Swordsman” in Arabic, was founded in 1991 on the island of Basilan in the Philippines’ predominantly Muslim south.

It has been blamed for bombings, kidnappings, beheadings and has reportedly given sanctuary to Indonesian terror suspects, including Dulmatin, a key suspect in the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings who was killed by police in Indonesia last week.

Washington has blacklisted the Abu Sayyaf, which has nearly 400 fighters, as a terrorist organization. US-backed offensives have killed or captured many of its commanders in recent years, leaving the group without an overall leader to unify its factions on Basilan, nearby Jolo island and the Zamboanga Peninsula.

Documents recovered from an Abu Sayyaf camp captured by government troops and information from a Sri Lankan peace worker, who was kidnapped then freed by the militants last year, showed Mundos has emerged as the leader of the Basilan-based faction of the group, according to the military report. – AP