a call to pray for the church on Basilan By Elizabeth Kendal World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission (WEA RLC) Special to ASSIST News Service AUSTRALIA (ANS) -- Basilan Island is the northern-most island in the Southern Philippines Sulu Archipelago, lying just south of western Mindanao's Zamboanga Peninsula. Except for its capital city, Isabela, Basilan is part of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). Basilan is also a base of the al-Qaeda-linked militant Islamic group, Abu Sayyaf, a militarily weak but barbaric terrorist outfit that funds and sustains its 'jihad' (Islamic 'holy war') through crime. Previously the Abu Sayyaf garnered income through kidnapping-for-ransom. However, drug trafficking and extortion have proved easier and more profitable, so kidnapping is now used mainly as an instrument...
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