Malaysia seals off Abu’s possible entry

ZAMBOANGA CITY — A military official said yesterday that the Malaysian government continues its crackdown on Filipinos who have illegally entered the country and has exerted efforts to block the possible entry of Abu Sayyaf bandits to evade renewed military offensives in southern Mindanao.

Government troopers have likewise defied warnings made by the Abu Sayyaf that continuous military operations might provoke the group into pursuing their execution on American captive Jeffrey Schilling.

"The operation is part of the risk, but we are in a win-win situation right now as the elite forces continued to pressure the Abu Sayyaf who are hiding scared," Army Colonel Juneval Narcise, spokesman of the Task Force Janus, said.

Narcise said there is an increase of Filipinos deported from Malaysia since the military renewed its offensive to rescue Schilling and destroy the Abu Sayyaf bandits.

"Although we have not coordinated with them, Malaysian authorities intensified their efforts to weed out people without legal documents," Narcise said of the possible plan of the group to slip into the state of Sabah.

Narcise said close to 200 Filipinos who were deported from Malaysia arrived last Wednesday in this city.

The regional office of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) under director Pariishya Taradji showed that over a thousand deportees have been sent back to their country since the military launched the offensive last year.

Most of the deportees are residents of Tawi-Tawi, Sulu, and Basilan provinces who illegally entered Malaysia using the backdoor.

Colonel Narcise said the Naval Task Group has intensified its naval blockade in Sulu and Basilan where the elite government troops concentrated the operation.

Meanwhile, an Abu Sayyaf member deserted the group to help the military in pinpointing the hideout of his former comrades.

Narcise, on the other hand, refused to identify the Abu Sayyaf defector.

"We used him as our spotter to locate the Abu Sayyaf group who are holding the American captive."

He said the defector surrendered Wednesday, a day after President Arroyo ordered the offensive following the threat of the Abu Sayyaf to behead Schilling and offer his head as their gift to Arroyo’s 54th birthday.

For four days now, the military continued to trail the extremists who tried to elude the brigade-sized of elite troops consisting of Army Scout Rangers, and Special Forces and also Marines.

But the troops in Basilan have recovered several firearms left along the withdrawal route of the Abu Sayyaf.

"This is one reason that there is no actual engagement yet. The Abu Sayyaf is avoiding the military. But our elite troops are determined to find them, fight, and finish them off," according to Narcise who said that "the only way for the Abu Sayyaf to live is to surrender."

He said the directive of the Task Force Janus, the military concept of two-phased operations, is to rescue the hostages and destroy the Abu Sayyaf.

But the troops were cautioned to consider the paramount safety of the civilians who might be affected in the guerrilla-type offensive against the Abu Sayyaf, Narcise said.