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Confronting militant Islam in Southeast Asia: the case of the Abu Sayyaf Group in the Philippines

2009; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 21; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/10163270903087394

1941-4641

Renato Cruz De Castro,

Islamic Studies and Radicalism

Abstract This article discusses the Bush administration's extension of the War on Terror in Southeast Asia and this operation's main objective-the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) in the Philippines. It probes the ASG's history, transnational links, and terrorist operations. Then using content analysis, the article analyzes the terrorist group's primary reading material to determine its ideological affiliation with transnational Islamic militant groups. It then argues that the transnational jihadist ideology is evident in the ASG's primary reading material. The material reflects the ideas of the late Palestinian terrorist Abdullah Azzam, and by implication, those of the late Egyptian poet Sayyid Qutb. In conclusion, the article points out that the influence of jihadist ideology on the ASG is superficial, because of the widely held view that the band is a marginalized group operating at the fringes of the mainstream militant Islamic movement in Southeast Asia. Notes 1. Andrew Harvey, Ian Sullivan, and Ralph Groves, "A Clash of Systems: An Analytical Framework to Demystify the Radical Islamic Threat," Parameters 35, no. 3 (Autumn 2005): 76. 2. Andrew T.H. Tan, "Terrorism and Insurgency in Southeast Asia," A Handbook of Terrorism and Insurgency in Southeast Asia, ed. Andrew Tan (Cheltenham, UK; Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2007), 12-13. 3. James Hookway, "Hearts and Minds: U.S. War on Terror Shows Promise in the Philippines," Wall Street Journal, June 18, 2007, A.1. 4. Andrew T.H. Tan, Southeast Asia: Threats in the Security Environment (Singapore: Marshall Cavendish Academic, 2006), 165. 5. Zachary Abuza, Militant Islam in Southeast Asia: Crucible of Terror (Boulder, CO; London, UK: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2003), 111. 6. Zachary Abuza, Militant Islam in Southeast Asia: Crucible of Terror (Boulder, CO; London, UK: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2003), 113. 7. Maria A. Ressa, Seeds of Terror: An Eye Witness Account of Al-Qaeda's Newest Center of Operations in Southeast Asia (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2003), 124. 8. The Filipino Express, "Abu Sayyaf Reduced to Plain Bandits," The Filipino Express 22, no. 26 (June 27-July 3, 2008): 18. 9. Alarmed by the communist resurgence and the persistent growth of the secessionist movement in Mindanao in the early years of the twenty-first century, the government decided to focus its attention and resources on domestic security matters. In June 2001, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo issued Executive Order No.21-S-2001 creating "A Coordinative and Integrative System for Internal Security." This led to the formation of the Cabinet Oversight Committee on Internal Security that eventually drafted the National Internal Security Plan (NISP) which prescribes the general political framework and policy guidelines for coordination, integration, and acceleration of all government actions on the domestic insurgencies in the twenty-first century. The NISP commits the entire government machinery to eliminating the root causes of the insurgencies and neutralize the insurgents by applying the "strategy of holistic approach." This strategy maximizes the use of grassroots intelligence, calls for intensive coordination of all policies and actions at all government levels, and promotes active government-civil society partnerships. More significantly, the AFP is tasked with the spearheading of this campaign against communist and secessionist insurgencies. And in this effort, the AFP would surely need all the military assistance and training it could get from its foremost security ally-the United States. See Romulo Yap, "A Review of the Government's Counter-Insurgency Strategies," National Security Review (August 2007): 36. 10. Business Monitor International, Philippine Defence and Security Report Q2 2006 (London: Mermaid House, 2006), 25. 11. Jose T. Barbieto, "R.P.-U.S. Military Exercise," Business World, February 4, 2005, http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=789060131&sid=2&Fmit=3&clientld=47883&RQT=309&VName=PQD (accessible by subscribers only) 12. Jaime Laude, "R.P.-U.S. 'War Games Set in Cotabato'," The Philippine Star, January 14, 2006, 1 and 8. 13. Sheldon W. Simon, "The New ASEAN Charter Bedeviled by Burma's Impunity," Comparative Connections: A Quarterly E-Journal on East Asian Bilateral Relations 4th Quarter 9, no. 4 (October-December 2007), www.csis.org./pacfor/ccejournal.htmlp, 58. Also see Peter Spiegel, "Elite Units Mentoring Allies to Fight Terror: U.S. Special Forces Turn to Indirect Action: Training Others to Take on Militants Themselves," Los Angeles Times, October 13, 2008, A-8. 14. Interview with an anonymous ranking Philippine Air Force officer "On the Philippine-U.S. Security Engagement Board," National Defense College, Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City, Metro Manila, July 26, 2008. 15. Simon, "The New ASEAN Charter Bedeviled," 58. 16. "U.S. Responds to Southeast Asia Political Turmoil," Comparative Connections: A Quarterly E-Journal on East Asian Bilateral relations 3rd Quarter 10, no. 3 (July-September 2008): 54, http://www.csis.org/pacfor/ccejournal.html. 17. "U.S. Frustrated as Burma Obstructs Cyclone Relief," Comparative Connections: A Quarterly E-Journal on East Asian Bilateral Relations 2nd Quarter 10, no. 2 (April-June 2008): 62, www.csis.org/pacfor/ccejournal.html. 18. The Filipino Express, "U.S. Troops on Mission of Love and Stealth in RP," The Filipino Express 21, no. 11 (March 12-18, 2007): 16. 19. Ben Reid, "Bush and the Philippines after September 11: Hegemony, Mutual Opportunism and Democratic Retreat," in Bush and Asia: America's Evolving Relations with East Asia, ed., Mark Besson (New York: Routledge, 2006), 155. 20. Evan S. Medevros, Keith Crane, Eric Heginbotham, Norman Levin, Julia F. Lowell, Angel Rabasa, and Somi Seong, Pacific Currents: The Response of U.S. Allies and Security Partners in East Asia to China's Rise (Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2008), 122. 21. Filipino Reporter, "U.S. Troops Will Stay in Mindanao: DND," Filipino Reporter 37, no. 7 (January 23-29, 2009): 18. 22. He allegedly fought in the International Islamic Brigade while in Afghanistan. See Mark Turner, "The Management of Violence in a Conflict Organization: The Case of the Abu Sayyaf," Public Organization Review 3, no. 4 (December 2003): 388. 23. Philippine Marines, Doctrinal Extracts: Abu Sayyaf (Makati City: Philippine Marines, Date Unknown), 39-40. 24. Zachary Abuza, "Tentacles of Terror: Al-Qaeda's Southeast Asian Network" Contemporary Southeast Asia 24, no. 3 (2002): 14. 25. Zachary Abuza, "Al Qaeda Comes to Southeast Asia," in Terrorism and Violence in Southeast Asia: Transnational Challenges and Regional Stability, ed., Paul J. Smith (New York: M.E. Sharpe, 2005), 42. 26. Mark Turner, "The Management of Violence in a Conflict Organization," 388. 27. For more detailed accounts of Abu Sayyaf's violent activities in Mindanao, see Mark Turner, "The Management of Violence in a Conflict Organization,", 388-90 and Christopher A. Parrinello, "Enduring Freedom," Military Intelligence Professional Bulletin 28, no. 2 (April-June 2002): 3-4 28. Jeffrey Bale, "The Abu Sayyaf Group in its Philippine and International Contexts," (Unpublished monograph, Center for Non-Proliferation Studies, Monterey Institute of International Studies, date unknown), 34. Jacques Bertran, "Peace and Conflict in the Southern Philippines: Why the 1996 Peace Agreement is Fragile," Pacific Affairs 73, no. 1 (Spring 2000): 3, http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=31&sid=1&vinst=PROD&fmt=3&startpage=-1&cl (accessible by subscribers only); Mohd Shafie Apdal and Carlyle A. Thayer, "Security, Political Terrorism and Militant Islam in Southeast Asia," Trends in Southeast Asia Series, vol. 7 (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2003). Jim Gomez, "Extremist Groups in the Philippines Forming Alliances," Associated Press, March 12, 2005, http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistroy.mpl/world/3081439. Paul Alexander, "Philippines Sees Terrorism Links Growing," Associated Press, March 2, 2005, http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apasia_story.asp?category=1. Abuza, "Tentacles of Terror," 11-14. 29. Bale, "Abu Sayyaf Group," 34. 30. Bale, "Abu Sayyaf Group," 35 31. Mark Turner, "The Management of Violence in a Conflict Organization," 388. 32. Mark Turner, "The Management of Violence in a Conflict Organization," 388. 33. Also see Larry Niksch, "Abu Sayyaf: Target of Philippine-U.S. Anti-Terrorism Cooperation," Congressional Research Service (Washington, D.C.: The Library of Congress, January 25, 2002). Also see Turner, "The Management of Violence in a Conflict Organization," 395-6. 34. Abuza, "Tentacles of Terror," 14. 35. This plot involved the attempted assassination of the late Pope John Paul II during his 1991 visit to Manila. Yoesuf and his associates were planning to use a car bomb to kill the Pope during the motorcade along the streets of Manila. 36. Niksch, "Abu Sayyaf: Target of Philippine-U.S. Anti-Terrorism Cooperation," 4. 37. Bale, "Abu Sayyaf Group," 32. Also see Niksch, "Abu Sayyaf: Target of Philippine-U.S. Anti-Terrorism Cooperation," 2-3. 38. Bale, "Abu Sayyaf Group," 25-27. 39. Bale, "Abu Sayyaf Group," 37. 40. For an analysis of the U.S. military operations in Basilan see The Economist, "Asia: The Elusive Enemy; Terror in Southeast Asia," The Economist 364, no. 8284 (August 3, 2002): 50. 41. The Economist, "New Abu Sayyaf; Terrorism in the Philippines," The Economist 374, no. 8414 (February 19, 2005): 2. The Raja Solaiman Movement (RSM), an association of Christian converts to Islam, is another Islamist group that takes up the cudgels for the transnational jihadist movement. It has often been associated with the Balik-Islam (Return to Islam) Movement; the group is composed of Filipino-Christians who converted to Islam as a result of the Philippine government policy of sending Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWS) to the Middle East since the 1970s. The RSM was organized in 2001 by Ahmed Santos, who encouraged a group of 20 Muslim converts to undergo jihad training in the organization's camp in Luzon. The following year, the RSM established links with the Abu Sayaff, Jamiya Islamiya (JI) and the MILF. With funding from the ASG and JI, the RSM recruited Muslim converts, held terrorist training camps, and conducted initial terrorist operations in Metro Manila. The RSM also sent some members to a MILF camp in Mindanao to undergo a Special Training Course (STC) prior to their deployment in Manila. The RSM was held responsible for the following terrorist acts: a) the March 2003 bombing of Davao International Airport in Mindanao; b) the February 27, 2004 bombing of the M/V Super Ferry 14 that killed 116 people and injured 300 passengers (with the ASG's support); and c) the February 14, 2005 simultaneous bombings (again in collaboration with the ASG) in three Philippine cities-Makati City in Luzon, General Santos City and Davao City in Mindanao (again with the ASG's assistance). In March 2005, the Philippine National Police (PNP) raided the RSM headquarters in Quezon City which thwarted a terrorist plot during the Holy Week, and led to the arrest of key RSM members. This breakthrough eventually weakened the RSM as an Islamic extremist group. See Rommel Banlaoi, "Radical Muslim Terrorism in the Philippines," A Handbook of Terrorism and Insurgency in Southeast Asia, ed., Andrew T. H. Tan (Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publications, 2007), 217. Also see Rommel Banlaoi, "Muslim Converts Terrorism and Political Violence: The Rajah Solaiman Islamic Movement," paper presented during the Council of Asian Terrorism Research (CATR), Philippine Plaza Hotel, Manila, March 27-29, 2007. 42. Carlos H. Conde, "Reawakening of Philippine Rebels New Militancy and Ties to Terrorists Seen in Moro Front," International Herald Tribune, February 22, 2005, 1. 43. Douglas Bakshian, "Winding Down the Mindanao War," Far Eastern Economic Review 170, no. 10 (December 2007): 47. 44. Roger Wilkison, "Heavy Fighting Reported in Southern Philippines between Marines, Muslim Rebels," U.S. Fed News, July 11, 2007, 2. 45. Philippine Marines, Doctrinal Extracts: Abu Sayyaf, 22-4. 46. Filipino Reporter, "ICRC Halts Mindanao Work," Filipino Reporter 37, no. 7 (January 23-29, 2009): 1, 10. 47. The Filipino Express, "Two More Abducted in Basilan," The Filipino Express 23, no. 6, (February 6 -12, 2009): 1, 21. 48. The Filipino Express, "AFP; Abu Sayyaf Largely Degraded but Stull a Threat in Mindanao," The Filipino Express 22, no. 28, (July 11-17, 2008): 1, 28. 49. Peter Chalk, "Militant Islamic Extremism," in Terrorism and Violence in Southeast Asia: Transnational Challenges to States and Regional Stability, ed., Paul J. Smith (New York: M.E. Sharpe, 2005), 20. 50. Rommel C. Banlaoi, Al-Harakatul Al Islamya: Essays on the Abu Sayyaf (Quezon City: The Alternative Pool of Printing Service, forthcoming), 46. 51. Rommel C. Banlaoi, Al-Harakatul Al Islamya: Essays on the Abu Sayyaf (Quezon City: The Alternative Pool of Printing Service, forthcoming), 46. 52. Abu Ramadan, Jihad in the Philippines (2000). Author's introduction. Abu Sayyaf Group underground reading meterial/pamphlet. No additional bibliographic details available. 53. Abu Ramadan, Jihad in the Philippines (2000). Author's introduction. Abu Sayyaf Group underground reading meterial/pamphlet. No additional bibliographic details available. 54. Abu Ramadan, Jihad in the Philippines (2000). Author's introduction. Abu Sayyaf Group underground reading meterial/pamphlet. No additional bibliographic details available., 13. 55. Abu Ramadan, Jihad in the Philippines (2000). Author's introduction. Abu Sayyaf Group underground reading meterial/pamphlet. No additional bibliographic details available., 22. 56. For details of the ASG's criminal activities see Abuza, "Tentacles of Terror," 111-13. 57. Abu Ramadan, Jihad in the Philippines, 33. 58. Abu Ramadan, Jihad in the Philippines, 23. 59. For an interesting work on the life and writings of Sayyid Qutb see Adnan A. Mussalam, From Secularism to Jihad: Sayyid Qutb and its Foundations of Radical Islamism (Westport, CT: Praeger Publisher, 2005), 180. 60. For an interesting work on the life and writings of Sayyid Qutb see Adnan A. Mussalam, From Secularism to Jihad: Sayyid Qutb and its Foundations of Radical Islamism (Westport, CT: Praeger Publisher, 2005), 161. 61. For an interesting work on the life and writings of Sayyid Qutb see Adnan A. Mussalam, From Secularism to Jihad: Sayyid Qutb and its Foundations of Radical Islamism (Westport, CT: Praeger Publisher, 2005), 182. 62. For an interesting work on the life and writings of Sayyid Qutb see Adnan A. Mussalam, From Secularism to Jihad: Sayyid Qutb and its Foundations of Radical Islamism (Westport, CT: Praeger Publisher, 2005), 191. 63. Beverly Milton-Edwards, Islamic Fundamentalism Since 1945 (New York and Oxford: Routledge, 2005), 106. 64. Abuza, "Al-Qaeda Comes to Southeast Asia," 42. 65. See Mathew Levitt, "Underlying the Terror Web: Identifying and Counter-acting the Phenomenon of Crossover between Terrorist Groups," SAIS Review 24, no. 1 (Winter 2004): 33. 66. Abuza, "Tentacles of Terror," 99. 67. Hussin Mutalib, "Misunderstood: Political Islam in Southeast Asia," Harvard International Review 28, no. 2 (Summer 2006): 84.