Word: sayyaf
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...Jolo Island, in the southern Philippines, were woken by footsteps and muffled hoofbeats. Peeking out in the dim light, they saw dozens of heavily armed men marching past their houses. One was on horseback. With a pang of fear, some villagers recognized him: Khaddafy Janjalani, leader of the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group and one of Southeast Asia's most wanted men. They had seen his face in posters advertising a $5 million reward for his capture...
...island's main town, where he alerted military officers to the terrorists' route and their likely destination. The next day a Philippine marine reconnaissance platoon ambushed Janjalani in his jungle hideout, killing the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist and delivering what authorities believe was a crushing blow to Abu Sayyaf's morale...
...Chief, wearing sunglasses and a baseball cap as his only disguise, is sipping a soda at the home of a Filipino general on Jolo Island, not far from his village where he still lives. For the authorities, Chief's decision to stay is one of many signs that Abu Sayyaf is on the run. "They suspect me, definitely," he says of the Islamist group's dwindling membership. "They have tried to kill me. But I never thought of leaving Jolo. I know the armed forces will protect me. And if I leave, the terrorists will suspect me more. They will...
...Founded in the late 1980s by Filipino Muslims who fought with al-Qaeda during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, Abu Sayyaf (Arabic for "Father of the Sword") aims to create an Islamic state in the southern islands of the mostly Catholic Philippines. Its bombings, kidnappings and assassinations have killed some 300 people and wounded hundreds more. Abu Sayyaf first caught the world's attention in 2000, when it used speedboats to snatch 21 tourists from a Malaysian beach resort within reach of Jolo. The following year it seized 20 more people from a resort on Palawan, in the southwest Philippines...
...Sayyaf maintained ties with al-Qaeda, which provided large sums of money. It also forged links with Jemaah Islamiah (J.I.), the Indonesian group that carried out the Bali bombings in 2002, and gave sanctuary to some of the J.I. terrorists in return for cash, guns and bombmaking lessons. In 2004 Abu Sayyaf was blamed for one of the world's deadliest maritime terror attacks, when a Manila ferry exploded, killing 116 people. Last November the group was blamed for a Manila bombing that killed three people, including a Muslim congressman, and wounded a dozen more...