February 25, 2003

Saddam and Abu Sayyaf, linked

According to 'The Philippine Terror Front':

Two weeks ago the Philippines expelled Iraqi diplomat Husham Husain after discovering he had received a phone call from an Abu Sayyaf member the day after the group staged an October 3 bombing that killed a U.S. Green Beret on the southern island of Mindanao. After the diplomat's deportation, Abu Sayyaf leader Hamsiraji Sali stated on Philippine TV that Iraq was paying bounties to his gunmen to murder U.S. troops.
The Abu Sayyaf also has connections with al Qaeda. For a decade, Mohammed Jamal Khalifa, Osama bin Laden's brother-in-law, laundered money through his Manila-based front companies to finance the extremist group, among others in the region. Philippine intelligence believes that Ramzi Yousef, who planned the first World Trade Center bombing from Manila, had contact and training with the Abu Sayyaf. Ditto for some of the 9/11 hijackers.

That seems to be a bit of a casus belli, no?

You've got the phone call, followed by the admission. So, why wouldn't this be true? I can only think of two possibilities: a) that A.S. leader is trying to falsely implicate Saddam for some reason, such as him being in reality a government agent, or b) they're just trying to look like bad ass dudes. I don't find either explanation convincing at all. However, the article "The Philippines' Iraq Connection: Was an Iraqi diplomat Saddam's link to Abu Sayyaf? Or is Manila just dancing to the U.S.'s tune?" has more information on the phone call, and it attempts to debunk the link. That article doesn't, however, mention the TV appearance.

Regarding "advisors" being sent to a country in S.E. Asia, yes there are a few parallels. However, supposedly there's only about 200 Abu Sayyaf members, and they're considered more along the lines of pirates than revolutionaries. And, supposedly they have very little popular support. And, they've been implicated in enough terrorism-related activities, including the AQ link, to make going after them a clear part of the current war.

Here's more about A.S., another A.S. backgrounder, here's more about AQ in SE Asia, and, perhaps most importantly of all, the year-old article "The Philippines: America�s War Toy" describes how it all might escalate and quagmirify.

Also, in blogging news, Jay Caruso is asking "Why aren't you war protesters protesting against Saddam?" Atrios weighs in.

Posted to Iraq at February 25, 2003 11:35 PM

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