{UAH} WHAT IS PHILIPPINES ABU SAYAFF TERRORIST GROUP?
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WHAT IS ABU SAYYAF?
Here are 5 things to know about the terrorist organization:
1. Abu Sayyaf is ADVOCATING for a separate Islamic state in Phillippines' southern Islands of Mindanao and Sulu. It has since affiliated itself to the AlQaeda Network of Osama bin Laden, but a separate faction has recently declared its support for ISIS.
Abu Sayyaf, which means Bearer of the Sword, was founded about 25 years ago and is pushing to create an Islamic state with Sharia law in the southern islands of Mindanao and Sulu. The Philippines is five per cent Muslim and 83 per cent Roman Catholic, but most Muslims are concentrated in the south.
2. Canada, the U.S. and the Philippines list Abu Sayyaf as a terrorist group
A local court ruling in 2015 declared Abu Sayyaf a terrorist organization under the country's anti-terror law, after it declared allegiance to the Islamic State terror group. Canada added the group to its list of terrorist entities in 2003. The U.S. also considers Abu Sayyaf a terror group.
3. Abu Sayyaf also engages in organized crime
Although the group claims to be fighting a religious struggle, Abu Sayyaf is more of a mafia family compact, similar to similar powerful families that feel aggrieved by the Philippine state and (have) essentially forged together a quasi-organized-crime cartel. Abu Sayaff primarily uses terrorism for profit.
4. The group has killed western hostages in the past
Abu Sayyaf kidnapped 21 people, including three Americans at a resort in 2000. One of the Americans was beheaded, another was killed when the army intervened and the third was wounded. However, in 2013 the group did release an Australian who they had held hostage for 15 months. Earlier this month, they released a kidnapped Italian priest.
5. Abu Sayyaf committed the biggest terrorist attack in Filipino history
Abu Sayyaf bombed a ferry near Manila on Feb. 27, 2004, killing 116 people. Less than a year later, on Feb. 14, 2005, it bombed the cities of Manila, General Santos and Davao, killing eight and injuring more than 100.
In 2008, Abu Sayaff bombed a shopping mall in the coastal city of Iligan in Mindanao. My 10 year old daughter, who had just left school and had passed by to buy ice cream, was caught up in the mayhem. In a five –storey complex that had up to 10,000 shoppers at the time, Abu Sayyaf planted several bombs in the mall and then electronically detonated other bombs at the entrances and exits as terrified people tried to flee for their lives. Trapped in a burning inferno, my daughter jumped down from the third floor, suffering broken limbs and serious injuries and had to be flown to London for emergency treatment. 27 people died and many more were injured.
The Philippine military has fought back, killing some of the group's top leaders in recent years, according to the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center.
In 2009, I met personally with the leaders of Abu Sayaff in the muslim city of Marawi, 15 miles away from Iligan City. Many of these leaders have since been killed or captured by the Philippines army. Completely on my own, I told the Abu Sayaff that the world recognises and sees the suffering and injustice that the Muslim Moro people have endured for the last 200 years of occupation of their ancestral land. I told them it was still possible to work out a political solution that addresses the root causes of the conflict in Mindanao, that many Filipinos actually feel totally disenfranchised by feudal land-lord rule in Mindanao and are in a similar situation as the muslim Moros. I appealed to them to join the National Liberation struggle, which has been painstakingly mobilising the rest of the Filipino nation to overthrow the puppet regimes that have been ruling for over 200 years. I told them establishing an Islamic State in Mindanao is a pipe dream which will never be realised, and that a campaign of terrorism will only isolate them and impose even greater suffering on a people who have already suffered for so much and for so long. At great risk to myself, I ended my speech by telling them very bluntly that the National Democratic Liberation is the Future and the only Hope for the Phillippines, and they should abandon completely any notion of establishing an Islamic caliphate.
Bobby.
--
Disclaimer:Everyone posting to this Forum bears the sole responsibility for any legal consequences of his or her postings, and hence statements and facts must be presented responsibly. Your continued membership signifies that you agree to this disclaimer and pledge to abide by our Rules and Guidelines.To unsubscribe from this group, send email to: ugandans-at-heart+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
Here are 5 things to know about the terrorist organization:
1. Abu Sayyaf is ADVOCATING for a separate Islamic state in Phillippines' southern Islands of Mindanao and Sulu. It has since affiliated itself to the AlQaeda Network of Osama bin Laden, but a separate faction has recently declared its support for ISIS.
Abu Sayyaf, which means Bearer of the Sword, was founded about 25 years ago and is pushing to create an Islamic state with Sharia law in the southern islands of Mindanao and Sulu. The Philippines is five per cent Muslim and 83 per cent Roman Catholic, but most Muslims are concentrated in the south.
2. Canada, the U.S. and the Philippines list Abu Sayyaf as a terrorist group
A local court ruling in 2015 declared Abu Sayyaf a terrorist organization under the country's anti-terror law, after it declared allegiance to the Islamic State terror group. Canada added the group to its list of terrorist entities in 2003. The U.S. also considers Abu Sayyaf a terror group.
3. Abu Sayyaf also engages in organized crime
Although the group claims to be fighting a religious struggle, Abu Sayyaf is more of a mafia family compact, similar to similar powerful families that feel aggrieved by the Philippine state and (have) essentially forged together a quasi-organized-crime cartel. Abu Sayaff primarily uses terrorism for profit.
4. The group has killed western hostages in the past
Abu Sayyaf kidnapped 21 people, including three Americans at a resort in 2000. One of the Americans was beheaded, another was killed when the army intervened and the third was wounded. However, in 2013 the group did release an Australian who they had held hostage for 15 months. Earlier this month, they released a kidnapped Italian priest.
5. Abu Sayyaf committed the biggest terrorist attack in Filipino history
Abu Sayyaf bombed a ferry near Manila on Feb. 27, 2004, killing 116 people. Less than a year later, on Feb. 14, 2005, it bombed the cities of Manila, General Santos and Davao, killing eight and injuring more than 100.
In 2008, Abu Sayaff bombed a shopping mall in the coastal city of Iligan in Mindanao. My 10 year old daughter, who had just left school and had passed by to buy ice cream, was caught up in the mayhem. In a five –storey complex that had up to 10,000 shoppers at the time, Abu Sayyaf planted several bombs in the mall and then electronically detonated other bombs at the entrances and exits as terrified people tried to flee for their lives. Trapped in a burning inferno, my daughter jumped down from the third floor, suffering broken limbs and serious injuries and had to be flown to London for emergency treatment. 27 people died and many more were injured.
The Philippine military has fought back, killing some of the group's top leaders in recent years, according to the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center.
In 2009, I met personally with the leaders of Abu Sayaff in the muslim city of Marawi, 15 miles away from Iligan City. Many of these leaders have since been killed or captured by the Philippines army. Completely on my own, I told the Abu Sayaff that the world recognises and sees the suffering and injustice that the Muslim Moro people have endured for the last 200 years of occupation of their ancestral land. I told them it was still possible to work out a political solution that addresses the root causes of the conflict in Mindanao, that many Filipinos actually feel totally disenfranchised by feudal land-lord rule in Mindanao and are in a similar situation as the muslim Moros. I appealed to them to join the National Liberation struggle, which has been painstakingly mobilising the rest of the Filipino nation to overthrow the puppet regimes that have been ruling for over 200 years. I told them establishing an Islamic State in Mindanao is a pipe dream which will never be realised, and that a campaign of terrorism will only isolate them and impose even greater suffering on a people who have already suffered for so much and for so long. At great risk to myself, I ended my speech by telling them very bluntly that the National Democratic Liberation is the Future and the only Hope for the Phillippines, and they should abandon completely any notion of establishing an Islamic caliphate.
Bobby.
--
Disclaimer:Everyone posting to this Forum bears the sole responsibility for any legal consequences of his or her postings, and hence statements and facts must be presented responsibly. Your continued membership signifies that you agree to this disclaimer and pledge to abide by our Rules and Guidelines.To unsubscribe from this group, send email to: ugandans-at-heart+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
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