Sayyaf Head a Government Agent, Says Legislator,

March 25, 2000, The Philippine Daily Inquirer, page 17, Sayyaf head a gov't agent, says legislator, by Nash B. Maulana, PDI Mindanao Bureau,

Khaddafy Janjalani, the new leader of the Abu Sayyaf, is allegedly a Deep Penetration Agent of the government, Basilan Rep. Gerry Salapuddin said.

Salapuddin said Janjalani and another Abu Sayyaf leader, Edwin Angeles, were arrested on suspicion of being local accomplices to an alleged plot by international terrorists to assassinate Pope John Paul II in January 1995.

"He (Janjalani) was detained without charges and then he escaped 'kuno' (dubiously) or was made to escape. I have no doubt (that) he is a DPA (deep penetration agent) to the Abu Sayyaf," Salapuddin said.

If indeed he escaped, Janjalani remains "untouchable," Salapuddin said. He is now engaged in a copra buy-and-sell business in Isabela, Basilan.

Khaddafy is the younger brother of Abu Sayyaf leader and founder Abdulrajak Janjalani, who was killed in 1997.

In the summer of 1995, Angeles resurfaced and claimed that he was a DPA.

Salapuddin said he had already suspected then that Khaddafy and Angeles were DPA's working for the government intelligence community.

Khaddafy's buy-and-sell business, he said, was being financially supported by one Mr. Tan whom he described as "another DPA."

Khaddafy was familiar to Basilan folk until he gained media notoriety for recently abducting a priest, school children and teachers, demanding food and medicines.

Angeles was shot dead last year, shortly after attending a Muslim Friday congregation at a mosque in Isabela.

Salapuddin, himself a rebel leader during martial law, said the Abu Sayyaf is engaged in "the wrong jihad" (struggle) by resorting to terrorism and "haram" (abominable) activities.

"For God's sake, what would they get from the teachers, a priest and schoolchildren if they want money? These teachers are receiving meager salaries (minus) all the loans that they are paying," he said.

Authorities have linked the Abu Sayyaf to groups that the US State Department consider as international terrorists.

Last month, the US State Department tagged Islamic relief organizations as a "common thread" in international terrorism, according to the New York Times News Service,

Philippine and US authorities had initially named the Rabitatul Alam (World Muslim League), an international Islamic relief group, as having links to international terrorists.

The WML was once headed in the Asia-Pacific region by Jamal Khalifa, a brother-in-law of Bin Laden, whom the US authorities have outlawed for allegedly leading terrorist movements in the West, and the Middle East.

But the Metro Manila-based Moro Human Rights Center expressed doubt that Khaddafy Janjalani's group has connections with well-funded relief institutions like the WML.

Another Abu Sayyaf leader, Jul Jilang, who was arrested in Zamboanga City in 1994, remains unaccounted for, Salapuddin said.

Jilang was reportedly detained at the Southcom in Zamboanga City in 1994.

There were reports that Jilang was seen riding a military vehicle, and on another occasion, disembarking from a Navy boat in Isabela.