: Are the Abu Sayyaf’s Days Finally Numbered?

Are the Abu Sayyaf – a Muslim militant group that somehow believes that kidnapping tourists and stuffing their pockets with ransom money will gain them a separate Muslim state in the Philippines – about to meet their end? The Philippine army, backed by US advisors, has had the Abu Sayyaf on the run since a battle last week whose crossfire claimed the lives of two hostages that had been held for over a year. In the past, the Abu Sayyaf have been successful at ransoming hostages, netting $20 million for 21 tourists (paid for by a well-meaning Libya) which ended up strengthening the group. Last year, they threatened to behead an American Muslim hostage, Jeffrey Schilling, as a “birthday present” to Philippine President Gloria Arroyo. Now Arroyo has had enough. She launched a seek-and-destroy mission that appears to have the rebel group surrounded, with Philippine soldiers displaying the trademark sunglasses of Abu Sabaya, the group’s notorious leader, as proof of their success. Sympathy for the Abu Sayyaf among fellow Muslims in the southern Philippines (among whom they could hide) has all but dried up, and the government has even gained the support of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, another Muslim rebel group, in eradicating the “un-Islamic” Abu Sayyaf.

Shahed Amanullah is editor-in-chief of altmuslim.com.