FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
nationthailand

Malaysian terror suspect 'hiding with Moro rebels'

Malaysian terror suspect 'hiding with Moro rebels'

Defector from Philippine group said to be sheltering Marwan

A Malaysian wanted by the US government for terrorist activities in Southeast Asia is hiding in territory held by breakaway Moro rebels in Maguindanao, southern Philippine province, a senior Bangsamoro leader said on Thursday.
Another source said a member of the Indonesia-based Jemaah Islamiyah, the Southeast Asian affiliate of the global terrorist network al-Qaeda, is also hiding in this province.
Von Al Haq, a spokesperson for the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), told the Inquirer on the phone that Zulkifli bin Hir, also known as Marwan, is being coddled by the breakaway group led by Ameril Umra Kato.
Kato, formerly commander of the MILF’s 105th Base Command, broke away from the 
MILF in 2008 over serious disagreements with fellow rebel leaders on peace negotiations with the government.
He has since founded the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement (BIFM), whose armed wing, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), was involved in recent attacks on government security forces in Maguindanao, including a roadside bomb attack in Datu Piang town that wounded seven soldiers on Wednesday.
Al Haq said Marwan might have played a role in the August 5 bombing in Cotabato City that killed eight people and wounded nearly 30 others.
Earlier, National Security Adviser Caesar Garcia said on national television that the Cotabato City blast had similarities to previous attacks perpetrated by Marwan.
“That’s what we got on the ground. He’s hiding among BIFF members. We also got feedback from residents (of areas) near BIFF camps,” Al Haq said.
Marwan has been monitored in the country since 2003. He has also been reported hiding with Abu Sayyaf bandits.
Last year, a military report said Marwan had moved to Central Mindanao, an area of operation for the MILF.
A military source, who asked not to be named because he had no authority to talk to journalists, said an Indonesian national was among those killed in a recent military operation against the BIFF in Datu Piang.
In a separate talk with the Inquirer, Colonel Dickson Hermoso, spokesperson for the military’s Sixth Infantry Division, said there was an intelligence report that a Jemaah Islamiyah member had been sighted among Moro rebels in Datu Piang.
But Abu Misry Mama, a spokesperson for the BIFF, denied his group had ties with Marwan or any Jemaah Islamiyah member.
The MILF said it had offered to help the authorities investigate the August 5 blast in Cotabato City.
“We are offering our services to work alongside the police and the military in the pursuit operation against the bombing suspects,” Ghadzali Jaafar, MILF political affairs chief, said.
RELATED
nationthailand