No terror threat in MM; ASG suspects in Palawan

From the Manila Standard Today (Jun 13): No terror threat in MM; ASG suspects in Palawan

The government’s top spook said there is no terrorist threat in Metro Manila following the arrest of Khair Mundos, a leader and key financier of the notorious Abu Sayyaf Group who carries a $500,000 US government bounty on his head.

But a military officer said  the ASG remains active in southern provinces and is zeroing in on their prospective target in Balabac town of Palawan.

National Security Adviser Cesar Garcia said  the arrest of Mundos  should not send a negative message to the international community. “On the contrary, this is an accomplishment of our intelligence community and the Armed Forces of the Philippines,” Garcia said.

“We checked and double-checked if he was planning any attacks in Metro Manila and we found no threat. He was simply lying low here in the capital after escaping pursuit in Mindanao,” he added.

Mundos was arrested Wednesday morning at his hideout in Barangay San Isidro, Parañaque City.

Garcia said the AFP is now re-tracing the previous hideouts of Mundos before he came to Manila.

Ten  other ASG suspects were monitored in Palawan, according to the military officer.

The suspects could be out to abduct businessmen in Palawan, the officer said.

The Marines were doing the operations, said the officer.

Earlier, Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines chief Maj. Gen. Eduardo Ano said the intelligence unit of the Philippine Army spent several months tracking down Mundos.

Mundos’ arrest was covered by a warrant for multiple murder and frustrated murder issued by the Regional Trial Court 12 Branch 17 in Kidapawan City.

Recovered from Mundos’ possession were several ATM cards believed to have been used in the remittance of foreign funding for the ASG’s operations in Basilan and Sulu.

Mundos also yielded a cellular phone with several SIM cards when seized by authorities.

The US State Department’s Rewards for Justice website describes Mundos as a “key leader and financier of the ASG, which has carried out deadly bomb attacks and kidnappings, targeting foreigners and Christians.”

The Philippine government also offered P1.2 million for Mundos’ capture.

http://manilastandardtoday.com/2014/06/13/no-terror-threat-in-mm-asg-suspects-in-palawan/