REBELS LINKED TO LANKAN’S KIDNAP KILLED IN PHILIPPINES

Philippine soldiers killed three Al-Qaeda-linked extremists in a gun battle in the southern Philippines on Sunday, a military commander said.

The battle with members of Abu Sayyaf, a local militant group in the strife-torn island of Basilan, was proof of the military’s continuing efforts to combat terrorism even a decade after 9/11, said Colonel Alexander Macario.

Macario’s anti-terror task force tracked down a band of Abu Sayyaf militants and killed three extremists, the colonel said, forcing the rest to flee the gunfight leaving the dead bodies behind.

He said the band engaged by his task force was linked to a series of kidnappings in the south in recent years, including the abduction of a Sri Lankan peace activist in 2009.

The Abu Sayyaf is a small group of Islamic militants founded in 1990 with Al-Qaeda funding and has been blamed for the nation’s worst terrorist attacks, including a ferry bombing that killed more than 100 in 2004.

The group is also wanted for the kidnapping of three US citizens in 2001, two of whom died while in captivity.

The Philippines is a major non-NATO ally of the US, and American troops have been stationed in Basilan and other areas of the southern Philippines since early 2002 to train local forces in how to combat the Abu Sayyaf.

But the group, believed to have just a few hundred militants, survives with the support of local Muslim communities and its ability to raise funds with kidnapping for ransom and other crimes, AFP reported.

Comments

Ukrainians injured as police dismantle Kiev 'tent city'

At least 10 demonstrators have been injured in clashes with Ukrainian police and another 100 detained in the capital Kiev after authorities began dismantling a makeshift "tent city" protesting against corruption. The tent city was set up in October by supporters of Mikheil Saakashvili, a former president of Georgia who has become an opposition politician in Ukraine. Saakashvili, a critic of corruption in Ukraine, was deported to Poland in February. He said he was "kidnapped" by Ukrainian authorities and removed from the country against his will. Andriy Kryshchneko, police chief of police, said at the camp on Saturday that "two court decisions" allowed authorities to search and dismantle the camp. Police said that explosives and other weapons were found at the scene

ASSIGNING OF PREFERENTIAL NUMBERS FOR LG POLLS COMPLETED

The Election Secretariat announced that assigning preferential numbers for candidates of the Local Government election to be held for 67 bodies has been completed. Preparations are currently underway to hold the polls under the 2010 electoral register, Additional Elections Commissioner W.P. Sumanasiri said. The electoral register of the year 2010 is scheduled to be certified on June 31.

In abrupt turnaround, Olympus admits it hid losses

Japan's Olympus admitted on Tuesday it hid losses on securities investments dating back two decades, bowing to weeks of pressure to explain a series of baffling transactions that have put the future of the firm in doubt. The revelations by the 92-year-old company appear to vindicate ex-CEO Michael Woodford, who has staged a campaign since being sacked on October 14 to force the firm to come clean on nearly $1.5 billion in questionable payments. Olympus President Shuichi Takayama blamed Tsuyoshi Kikukawa, who quit as president and chairman on October 26, Vice-President Hisashi Mori and internal auditor Hideo Yamada for the cover-up, saying he would consider criminal complaints against them. The admission after weeks of denials shocked investors, sending shares in the endoscope and camera maker skidding almost 30 percent and prompting the biggest non-Japanese shareholder to demand the replacement of the entire board. "Ignorance is no defense," said Jo...

Share Blogs

Search This Blog