ZAMBOANGA CITY, 1 April 2006 — Authorities yesterday said they have uncovered a plot by Abu Sayyaf extremists to hijack passenger ships in the southern Philippines.
A report by the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) in the northern part of Mindanao island also claimed the extremist group was also planning to hostage the passengers.
“We have ordered a tightened security in all passenger ships in northern Mindanao. We have contingency measures and are ready to address any situation. We cannot rule out the possibility of a terror attack after the recent bombing in Jolo,” said Florante Baguio, the regional police chief.
The report identified the leader of an 11-man Abu Sayyaf team that would carry out the hijacking as Abu Awillah, and that among the targets are Super Ferry vessels sailing from Manila to Mindanao .
Baguio said police have intensified its intelligence operation to track down members of the terrorist group.
Authorities have tagged the Abu Sayyaf group in the February 2004 bombing of the Super Ferry 14, which killed more than 100 people in the worst maritime terrorist attack in the Philippines. The 10,192-ton ship was sailing out of Manila with about 900 passengers and crew when a television set filled with TNT exploded. The Abu Sayyaf owned up the bombing.
Since the bombing of the Super Ferry 14, authorities have deployed secret marshals in passenger ships. The group was also blamed for the Tuesday bombing of a two-story building in the island Jolo, south of Zamboanga City, that left 7 people wounded.
It also warned of impending attacks in this port city and Basilan island, just 20 kilometers to the south, where security forces are pursuing Abu Sayyaf members, blamed for the spate of terrorism and kidnappings of foreigners in the region. The Abu Sayyaf is included in the US terror lists and Washington offered as much as $10 million bounty for the capture of its leader Khadaffy Janjalani and his leaders, all linked to the killing of two US citizens kidnapped in the southern Philippines in 2001 and 2002.
