Postby Grant » Mon Apr 02, 2007 8:21 pm
"AND WHY ARE THEY DOING IT..."
"Just a few miles away are the dwindling but still dangerous remnants of one of Asia's most ruthless Muslim militant groups, Abu Sayyaf.
With leaders trained in Afghanistan and pledged to ignite jihad in South East Asia, the group has been blamed by the Manila government for killing hundreds of Philippines citizens in bomb attacks and other violence.
In 2001 the group kidnapped three Americans, beheading one. A US missionary died in a botched rescue attempt the next year. In 2004 the group was blamed for a ferry bombing in which 100 passengers died.
The Philippines military says international terrorists are still hiding with Abu Sayyaf, including two men suspected of involvement in the 2002 Bali bombings.
At that time, Abu Sayyaf were making millions of dollars from kidnapping and virtually ran the Sulu archipelago, which for decades has been a lawless, impoverished region notorious for pirates and Muslim rebels.
Now the revitalised Philippines security forces estimate there are only about 200 Abu Sayyaf fighters left in the jungles of Jolo. "
