Palace confirms Jemaah Islamiyah-Abu Sayyaf merger

The regional terror network Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) and the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) are now "working closely together" in southern Philippines but both groups pose no immediate threat to Manila, a Malacañang official confirmed on Thursday. “The analysis insofar as JI working closely together with the Abu Sayyaf is correct insofar as being — that’s being done right now in Jolo — but there are no specific reports of any threat of these two groups coming to Manila," presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said. JI has been blamed for deadly attacks in neighboring Indonesia while the Abu Sayyaf has gained notoriety for kidnapping civilians, including foreign tourists, from Palawan down to neighboring Malaysia in recent years. The Philippine intelligence community is scrutinizing reports on the matter, Lacierda told reporters at a briefing. “All the information is being vetted by the intelligence community. There’s information sharing on many levels — national intelligence levels of countries —among ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations)," he said. “According to (National Security Adviser Cesar) Garcia, we received information, and all information whether scuttlebutt gossip are being investigated and vetted," Lacierda reiterated. He did not elaborate on the reported merger of the two terrorist groups. Professor Rohan Gunarathna, head of the management staff of the International Center for Political Violence and Terrorism Research in Singapore, said Wednesday the JI and ASG have become very much integrated that they operate almost as one organization. Gunarathna, one of the resource speakers at the two-day intelligence exchange forum among ASEAN military analysts in Manila, said the ASG extremists are collaborating closely with about a dozen JI terrorists who came here from Indonesia. — VS/YA, GMA News