Two al Qaeda backed jihadist groups in the Philippines were targeting Philippine President Arroyo - Abu Sayyaf group and its Indonesia-based ally, Jemaah Islamiyah. A military chief in the Philippines said that other individuals were targeted as well as foreign embassies.
A visit to a northern city by Arroyo was cancelled so there is the speculation that the attempt was planned for that visit.
Perhaps al Qaeda and its splinter groups like these two felt bringing down another woman would get them the attention that was gained out of the Bhutto assassination. The Philippines as well as Thailand have been favorite targets for a long time now although the al Qaeda influence there has not been reported to much degree - the MSM's ignorance of attacks in these two countries has been glaring.
What this does prove is that difficulty in completely gutting a country of these factions - the Philippines is not that large a country and one would think a sweep of the land by military and special forces could remove these jihadists but this has been going on for years. Imagine the challenges the U.S. and Iraq will have in completely ridding a much larger country like Iraq of this kind of scourge.
Here's the full story from Yahoo.
A visit to a northern city by Arroyo was cancelled so there is the speculation that the attempt was planned for that visit.
Perhaps al Qaeda and its splinter groups like these two felt bringing down another woman would get them the attention that was gained out of the Bhutto assassination. The Philippines as well as Thailand have been favorite targets for a long time now although the al Qaeda influence there has not been reported to much degree - the MSM's ignorance of attacks in these two countries has been glaring.
What this does prove is that difficulty in completely gutting a country of these factions - the Philippines is not that large a country and one would think a sweep of the land by military and special forces could remove these jihadists but this has been going on for years. Imagine the challenges the U.S. and Iraq will have in completely ridding a much larger country like Iraq of this kind of scourge.
Here's the full story from Yahoo.
Officials: Arroyo target of plot
MANILA, Philippines - Militants linked to al-Qaida plotted to assassinate the Philippine president and bomb foreign embassies, officials said Thursday.
Opposition groups dismissed the allegation as government scare tactics to prevent people from joining protests Friday to demand Arroyo's resignation over corruption charges.
Brig. Gen. Romeo Prestoza, head of the Presidential Security Group, said police uncovered the plot last week. "It's not only the president who is the target, but also other people ... and embassies," he said without offering specifics.
The alleged plot was also to involve a sniper shooting the president, Esperon said.
A U.S. Embassy spokeswoman said officials there were aware of media reports that foreign embassies had been targeted but would not comment further. She spoke on condition of anonymity in line with policy.
The officials did not specify when the attacks were expected to occur. But Prestoza said President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's attendance at an alumni homecoming of the Philippine Military Academy on Saturday in northern Baguio city has been canceled and the rest of her schedule was "under assessment."
Earlier, the military had announced that security forces would go on high alert over an alleged communist rebel plan to infiltrate the protests.
No comments:
Post a Comment