Abus’ video on ISIS sets off red alert in Sabah

From the Manila Standard Today (Sep 26): Abus’ video on ISIS sets off red alert in Sabah

THE Abu Sayyaf has declared its support for the Islamic State (IS) of Iraq and Syria in a video posted on YouTube, triggering a red alert in Sabah, The Star newspaper reported in Malaysia Thursday.

The video showed Abu Sayyaf leader Isnilon Hapilon, clad in black, and masked men declaring their allegiance to IS and its chief, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

The 48-year-old Isnilon is one of the world’s most wanted terrorists, with a RM16 million bounty on his head, the report said.

The six-minute clip was posted in July but only picked up momentum on social networking sites last month, The Star said.

The video appeared to have been shot in the jungles of Mindanao, where the militant group is based and the opening shot showed the IS movement’s black flag.

Isnilon and his men spoke mostly in Arabic and in his native dialect, Yakan.

Jemaah Islamiah and Jemaah Ansharut Taleader Abu Bakar Baasyir also called on his followers to join IS, the report said.

Isnilon is wanted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Malaysian authorities and is believed to have been responsible for an incident on Sabah’s Pom Pom island in Semporna last November, where Taiwanese national Chang An-Wei was kidnapped and her husband Hsu Lee Min was killed.

She was later released after negotiations.

“He (Isnilon) and his men are dangerous and their main business is kidnapping, which is carried out to finance their terror activities,” a regional intelligence analyst was quoted as saying.

“He and his men have beheaded an American kidnap victim.”

Malaysian authorities, the report said, are concerned that Isnilon and his troop could easily gain access into Sabah from their base in Mindanao.

“The situation in Iraq and Syria, where IS is operating, seems to have given a fresh impetus to Isnilon. There are very good reasons for Malaysia to put out the red alert for this terrorist given the long coastline,” the analyst was reported as saying.

In Manila, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said the Abu Sayyaf’s threat to behead one of its German kidnap victims was an attempt to align itself with IS, which beheaded two American journalists, and to drive up the amount of ransom that would be paid.

Reports said German authorities through their embassy in Manila had paid an initial P20 million out of the P240 million that the Abu Sayyaf bandits had demanded.

They said they would behead the Germans by Oct. 10 if the entire ransom were not paid by then.

The two German nationals—Stefan Victos Okonek, 70 and Herike Diesen, 55, were seized by armed men at the high seas off the southern portion of Palawan last April 26.

Former Western Command Chief Major Gen. Roy Deveraturda said the victims were on their way back to Sabah from Palawan after an island hopping cruise when they were reported missing.

“We have heard (payment of P20 million) but we don’t have any confirmation on that,” Gazmin said.

He admitted that negotiations were taking place between German authorities and unknown parties to secure the safe freedom of Okonek and Diesen.

“We understand there were on going negotiations, not through us but through other parties,” Gazmin said.

A senior military official said that the two German hostages are being kept by the ASG somewhere in the hinterlands of Indanan, Sulu.

This was corroborated by the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

“We know that the two Germans are in Indanan but we could not interfere with the ASG,” said MNLF spokesman Absalom Cerveza.

Gazmin said President Benigno Aquino III has ordered the military “to once and for all stop the banditry of the ASG.”

The plan, he said, included the dispatch of Army troops in areas under the jurisdiction of Marines.

Armed Forces Western Command chief Lt. Gen Rustico Guerrero said the Abu Sayyaf was taking advantage of the international attention that IS was generating to drive up ransoms.

The Foreign Affairs Department said it would leave it to the law enforcement agencies to deal with the Abu Sayyaf threat

Foreign Affairs spokesman Charles Jose said the department has not communicated with the German embassy and said he did not know if the diplomatic mission was cooperating with the national police or the Armed Forces.

On Wednesday, members of the Abu Sayyaf group threatened to behead one of its two German captives if the German government fails to pay its P240 million ransom demand.

They also demanded for Germany to pull out its support for the United States airstrikes against the Islamic State.

http://manilastandardtoday.com/2014/09/26/abus-video-on-isis-sets-off-red-alert-in-sabah/