Osama 'funded' RP militants

Thu, 10 Sep 1998, 00:00 WIB | Source: AFP

ISABELA, Philippines (AFP): Islamic militant Osama bin Laden
channeled funds to a local fundamentalist group, a former Moslem
guerrilla-turned-government official said here on Wednesday.

Wahab Akbar, governor of Basilan and a former commander of the
Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), said bin Laden, a wealthy
Saudi extremist, channeled an unspecified amount of money to the
Abu Sayyaf, a local militant group in the early 1990s.

The money was used to buy at least 40 assorted weapons
including M14 and M16 rifles, Akbar said without disclosing the
sources of his information.

It was earlier reported in local dailies that bin Laden, who
is blamed for masterminding the bombings of two U.S. embassies in
Africa last month, had visited the Philippines in the past and
had initiated various activities in the area.

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