January25, 2007:
With the death of Abu Sayyaf leader Abu Solaiman, the military
force on Jolo is now mainly searching for two Indonesian terrorists (
wanted for the Bali bombings), Dulmatin and Umar Patek, as well as Abu Sayyaf
leaders Isnilon Hapilon and Radullan Sahiron (who only has one arm,
and is in his 70s.) Intelligence indicates that Dulmatin was wounded in a
firefight last week. The cat-and-mouse affair with Abu Sayyaf is big news in
the Philippines, as it is the end of the line for the chief Islamic terrorists
in the region. Trapped on the island of Jolo, the terrorists are being caught
or killed one by one. Months of pressure by the army and marines have worn down
the loyalty of people on Jolo. The troops are getting more tips, and the
Islamic radicals are spending more time scrambling away from patrols and
sweeps. Abu Sayyaf and the Indonesian group, Jemaah Islamiyah, are the major al
Qaeda affiliates in southeast Asia, and now their key members are cornered and
being picked apart on Jolo.
January
24, 2007:The police have been ordered to disarm nearly a hundred armed
political gangs, each following the orders of a local politician, before the
May elections. These "private armies" have been around for
generations, and account for the many deaths and injuries that occur just
before elections. The gangs intimidate voters and generally misbehave. Most of the
gang members are armed with machetes, clubs or knives. But each gang has a few
guys with guns, and these are the ones the police will concentrate on
disarming.
January
23, 2007:NGOs and foreign media are accusing the government of supporting
"right-wing death squads" because leftist activists are being killed.
Police point out that many of the dead activists are involved in Communist
Party politics. The communists play rough, and are known for their murderous
purges. Politically, it's to the leftists advantage to blame the murders on
political opponents.
January
18, 2007:DNA tests confirmed the identity of Abu Sayyaf supreme leader,
Khadaffy Janjalani, who was killed and hastily buried by Islamic radicals four
months ago. His older brother, Abubakar Abdurajak Janjalani, founded Abu
Sayyaf, but was killed in 1998. Khadaffy Janjalani turned Abu Sayyaf into a
more vicious terrorist organization, especially with its kidnapping
tactics. DNA testing is a lot quicker and cheaper, and the only time consuming
task is getting DNA samples from relatives of the deceased, in order to confirm
the family connection.