Reuters AlertNet Lite - Slain Philippine militant said no link with al Qaeda

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Slain Philippine militant said no link with al Qaeda

22 Jan 2007 03:49:53 GMT
Source: Reuters

MANILA, Jan 22 (Reuters) - The slain leader of the Philippines' deadliest Islamic militant group said in his last interview that he had no links with al Qaeda but had received funds from two men close to Osama bin Laden, a newspaper said on Monday.

Khaddafy Janjalani, who was killed by Philippine troops in September, said in the interview conducted last February that his Abu Sayyaf group had operatives from the regional Jemaah Islamiah (JI) network in its ranks, but no formal links.

"We don't even know bin Laden or any leader of JI, how can we have links?" Janjalani said in the interview with a university professor which was published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

"What is true is that we have some JI field operatives who go with us anywhere. We actually don't mind who they are, provided they are willing to be our helping hands and follow our way of doing things here; we can't afford to be choosy."

Janjalani was mortally wounded in a clash with troops on the remote island of Jolo in September, the military has said. Captured Abu Sayyaf militants led soldiers to his grave in December and forensic tests last week established his identity.

The 31-year-old was the most wanted man in the Philippines and he was on a U.S. terrorist blacklist, carrying a bounty of $5 million on his head.

He said Abu Sayyaf had received funds from Jamal Khalifa, bin Laden's brother-in-law, and from Ramzi Yousef, who was convicted for the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center in New York.

"They needed at the time volunteers for Afghanistan while we needed money to buy arms, ammunition and other necessities to fight the oppressive government," Janjalani said in the interview with Professor Octavio Dinampo of the Mindanao State University in the southern Philippines.

"We reciprocated their assistance by providing them with volunteers."

Yousef is serving a life sentence for the World Trade Center bombing while Khalifa, who has said he is no longer close to bin Laden, is believed to be living in Saudi Arabia.

The Abu Sayyaf has been blamed for a series of kidnappings, executions, bomb blasts and acts of piracy in the Philippines, including the country's worst terror attack, a bombing of a passenger ferry that killed over 100 people in 2004.

About 400 or so militants from the group are fighting U.S.-trained Philippine troops on Jolo and are believed to have been joined by 30 or so Indonesians who belong to Jemaah Islamiah.

These are believed to include two men who have been blamed for the 2002 bombings on the Indonesian island of Bali.

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Last updated:Mon Jan 22 03:52:29 2007