Press Release
July 4, 2006

AUSTRALIAN ENVOY ASKED TO BACK UP HIS CLAIM OF
TRAINING OF JI MILITANTS IN MINDANAO

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Nene Q. Pimentel, Jr. (PDP-Laban) today asked an Australian diplomat to substantiate his allegation that the Southeast Asian terror network Jemaah Islamiyah is using rebel sanctuaries in Mindanao for training its recruits.

Pimentel was reacting to a published statement of Less Luck, Australian ambassador for counter-terrorism, that although government forces have destroyed major clandestine training camps in Mindanao, the Jemaah Islamiyah, which has links with Al Qaida, continues to train militants in the island.

The Australian ambassador would do well to identify the so-called Jemaah Islamiyah militants in Mindanao and who trained them. He should share the information with the Armed Forces and responsible officials of the government, he said.

If he has solid information about the presence of the Jemaah Islamiyah elements in Mindanao, it would be good for the government to act on it immediately. If not, the government should protest the officiousness of the Australian ambassador and consider him a persona non grata to the country.

Luck was in Manila to attend a counter-terrorism conference of Philippine and Australian officials.

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