http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/16193159.htm <http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/16193159.htm>
Posted on Fri, Dec. 08, 2006 Filipino terrorism warning issued By Jim Gomez ASSOCIATED PRESS CEBU, Philippines - The United States, Britain and Australia warned Thursday that terrorists may be plotting attacks in the central Philippines, the site of next week's summit of Asian leaders. Australian and British officials used identical language in separate advisories, saying they believed "terrorists are in the final stages of planning attacks." All three countries warned their citizens to avoid travel to Cebu province, a tourism and industrial hub 350 miles southeast of the capital, Manila. Australia upgraded its warning for Cebu to the highest level. "We continue to receive reports that terrorist groups are planning further attacks and believe that they have the capacity and the intent to carry out attacks at any time and anywhere in the country," the British advisory said. Leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations will hold their annual summit Dec. 11-13 in Cebu along with heads of state from six other nations, including Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Philippine security officials said they have not discovered any specific terror threats against the summit, but that they could not discount them. "We have received information, but these are not validated threats," military spokesman Lt. Col. Bartolome Bacarro said. "We are not discounting the possibility that some ... threat groups would take advantage of the ASEAN summit," he said, adding that security forces were prepared and "all contingencies have been taken into consideration." A confidential government threat assessment report, seen by the Associated Press, cited several groups that could pose a threat to the summit, including Jemaah Islamiyah, the Indonesian-based group accused of carrying out the 2002 nightclub bombings that killed 202 people in Bali. It also cited two Philippine groups -- the Muslim separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front and al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf, blamed for a 2004 ferry bombing that killed 116 people near Manila. The report said intelligence agencies have not monitored any specific plots against the ASEAN events by al-Qaida-linked groups, but added such possibilities were not far-fetched. Philippine officials said more than 10,000 troops and police were securing Cebu venues. The U.S., British and Australian embassies said civilians in public places, including those frequented by foreigners, were potential targets. The U.S. Embassy warned Americans in Cebu "to re-assess their personal security and to keep a low profile." The government's confidential report said a small group of Christian converts to Islam, the Rajah Solaiman Movement, may be planning to attack two financial districts in Manila, but the report did not say whether that was linked to an effort to disrupt the summit. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
