Abu Sayyaf: Target of Philippine-U.S. Anti-Terrorism Cooperation (Congressional Research Service)

Abu Sayyaf: Target of Philippine-U.S. Anti-Terrorism Cooperation

Congressional Research Service Report for Congress

The U.S. announcement that 650 military personnel will be deployed to the
southern Philippines signified that the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group is the next target
after Afghanistan in the U.S. campaign against terrorism. The U.S. action partly is
in response to Philippine President Arroyo’s strong support of the United States
following the September 11 al Qaeda attack on the United States. The United States
enters a complex situation in the southern Philippines. A historic Muslim resistance
to non-Muslim rulers broke out into massive rebellion in the 1970s. Two large
resistance groups, a Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and a Moro Islamic
Liberation Front (MILF) fought the Philippine government into the 1990s and entered
into tenuous truces in 1996 and 2001 respectively. Abu Sayyaf emerged in 1990 as
a splinter group composed of former MNLF fighters and Filipinos who had fought in
Afghanistan. Abu Sayyaf resorted to terrorist tactics, including kidnapings,
executions of civilians, and bombings. In 2000 and 2001, Abu Sayyaf raided resorts
in Malaysia and the Philippine island of Palawan and kidnaped foreign nationals. It
received large ransom payments for releasing the foreign and Filipino hostages; but
it continues to hold two Americans. Abu Sayyaf had links with Osamu bin Laden’s
al Qaeda organization in the early 1990s, but Philippine officials have given conflicting
assessments of current links. U.S. officials have asserted that there is evidence of
existing links.

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