Rewards for Justice Pays Rewards in Philippines Two Abu Sayyaf Terrorist Leaders

U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines Kristie A. Kenney distributed rewards to four Filipino citizens in a public ceremony on the island of Jolo today. A group of Filipino citizens, represented by the four present at the ceremony, will share the total reward of $10 million. This payment is the second largest of its kind by the Bureau of Diplomatic Security's Rewards for Justice (RFJ) program, the U.S. Department of State's counterterrorism rewards program.

Two notorious high-ranking leaders of the Abu Sayyaf Group, Khadaffy Janjalani and Abu Solaiman, were killed as a result of information provided by Filipino sources. Both terrorists were responsible for the kidnappings and deaths of Filipino and American citizens. Janjalani was killed during a battle with Armed Forces of the Philippines in October 2006, while Abu Solaiman died in similar circumstances in January 2007.

Since its inception, RFJ has paid more than $72 million to more than 50 people who have provided actionable information that has brought terrorists to justice or prevented acts of international terrorism. Anyone with information on a past or planned act of international terrorism against U.S. persons or property worldwide, or regarding the location of a key terrorist leader, is urged to contact RFJ directly at the following:

Internet: www.rewardsforjustice.net (secure online tip form) E-mail: RFJ@state.gov Hotline: 1-800-US-REWARDS (1-800-877-3927) Mail: Rewards for Justice, Washington, DC 20522-0303

Anyone in the United States with information may also contact the nearest Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) or FBI field office. Persons located overseas may contact the Regional Security Office at the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate.

Established by the 1984 Act to Combat International Terrorism, RFJ is administered by the Bureau of Diplomatic Security, the U.S. Department of State's law enforcement and security arm. The special agents, engineers, and security professionals of the Bureau are responsible for the security of 285 U.S. diplomatic missions around the world. In the United States, Diplomatic Security personnel protect the U.S. Secretary of State and high-ranking foreign dignitaries and officials visiting the United States, investigate passport and visa fraud, and conduct personnel security investigations. More information about the U.S. Department of State and the Bureau of Diplomatic Security may be obtained at www.state.gov/m/ds.

Hitting the Jackpot in the War on Terror
Townhalll ^ | 6/8/07 | Oliver North

http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1846925/posts
Posted on 06/08/2007 7:14:25 AM CDT by Valin

CAMP BAUTISTA, Philippines — It was one of the largest payouts ever in the State Department’s Rewards for Justice program: $10 million to a handful of brave Filipinos who had the fortitude to stand up to terror. On Thursday, four of them courageously appeared at the nearby district governor’s office with U.S. Ambassador Kristie A. Kenney and Gen. Hermogenes Esperon, chief of staff of the Philippine Armed Forces, to collect their share of the reward. The brief public ceremony may well mark the beginning of the end for the notorious Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), a radical Islamic terror organization affiliated with Al Qaeda and responsible for kidnapping and killing scores of Americans and Filipinos.

Information provided by the reward recipients — whose identities were kept secret to prevent reprisals — resulted in successful military operations by the Philippine military, in which two notorious ASG kingpins — Khadaffy Janjalani and Abu Solaiman — were killed. Two years ago, when our FOX News “War Stories” team was last in the Philippines, it was unthinkable that private citizens on this Muslim majority island would aid the Manila government in tracking down radical Islamic terrorists. But that was then and this is now — and a lot has changed in those 24 months.

The Rewards for Justice cash handed to four brave Filipinos is only part of the story. In fact, the rewards program dates back to the 1980s, when Ronald Reagan was president. But critics of paying rewards for information leading to the death or capture of terrorists have claimed that with Islamic extremism, tribal and religious loyalties trump the desire for financial gain. That may be true in some places, but it’s not the case now in the Philippines.

What changed here aren’t the motives or methods of the terrorists. The ASG and Jemaah Islamiyah — an organization that originated in nearby Indonesia — are both still committed to the tenets of radical Islam, to jihad and autonomous states governed by Sharia law. Their adherents take the lives of “infidels” with the same brutal violence as the followers of Osama bin Laden. Just three weeks ago, seven construction workers were kidnapped and beheaded. A good number of the terrorists here trained in Afghanistan back in the 1990s.
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