Osama 'funded' RP militants

Thu, 10 Sep 1998 | 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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