Manila, June 30: President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo today said terrorists have secretly trained in Indonesia, Malaysia and the southern Philippines and that all three are working to prevent Muslim extremists from establishing strongholds. The Philippine government was specifically working with Indonesia to be able to intercept Indonesians involved in terrorism training in isolated areas of Mindanao, the poor southern region where Filipino Muslim extremists and separatist guerrillas have a presence, she said.
"For some time now, terrorist networks have been working across our common seas to establish a radical enclave in parts of Malaysia and Indonesia and in Mindanao," Arroyo said in a statement.
"Small, clandestine training activities have shifted among the three countries as the circumstances would allow and this has happened in isolated parts of Mindanao," Arroyo said, without elaborating.
Philippine police intelligence officials say Jemaah Islamiyah, an al-Qaeda-linked Muslim militant group blamed for last year's Bali bombings that killed 202 people, has been weakened by crackdowns but continues to plot attacks aimed at establishing an extremist enclave in the region.
Arroyo said US counter-terrorism training in the Philippines and Malaysia's help in brokering peace talks between Manila and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the main Muslim guerrilla group suspected of ties with Jemaah Islamiyah, were helping stop the spread of terrorism in the region. Bureau Report