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Yasser Igasan succeeds Janjalani as Abu chief


Slain Abu Sayyaf leader Khaddafy Janjalani has a successor, the military said Wednesday. Army chief Lt. Gen. Romeo Tolentino said intelligence reports gathered by the Armed Forces indicated that the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group’s new leader is Yasser Igasan. “They had [an election] and we saw his name as the new leader…This is based on information provided by our people inside [the group]," he said. According to Tolentino, Abu Sayyaf members met in Indanan, Sulu two or three weeks ago. Janjalani was killed last year by Marine operatives in the jungles of Sulu province. Tolentino did not say as to the other candidates who vied for the post. Military officials earlier mentioned the names of Sulu-based Abu Sayyaf commander Radullan Sahiron as the most likely successor of Janjalani. Not much is known about the background of Igasan but an intelligence report disclosed that he studied Islamic jurisprudence in Syria, which it said is “a plus factor for a group that is trying to reinvent itself." Tolentino said this early, a number of Abu Sayyaf personalities are questioning the qualities of Igasan. “From the troops of the Abu Sayyaf, they have already complaints [against Igasan]," Tolentino. He said the new leader is perceived by many Abu Sayyaf guerrillas as weak. Previous reports quoted AFP Western Command head Eugenio Cedo as saying that Igasan is among the persons being considered by the Abu Sayyaf to succeed Janjalani. He described Igasan as “from abroad" and has “connections." Janjalani was killed by an elite unit of the Philippine Marines following a fierce firefight in Patikul town in Sulu in September last year. His body was exhumed by the military in December through the assistance of Abu Sayyaf surrenderees. In January, a DNA test conducted by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation concluded that the remains belonged to Janjalani, who took over the top Abu Sayyaf post from his elder brother, Abdurajak, who was slain in a clash in Isabela City in 1998. Later in January, members of the elite Army Special Forces Regiment killed in Talipao town, also in Sulu, Abu Solaiman - the Abu Sayyaf’s No. 2 man who reportedly engineered high-profile bombings and kidnappings by the group. -GMANews.TV

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