Abdel Basit Usman, a bombmaker and wanted member of the Philippines-based, al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf Group, was recently spotted during a raid on a Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters camp on Mindanao; Philippines press reports had claimed he was killed in a drone strike in Pakistan in January 2010. Basit is said to be building bombs for the BIFF, possibly with funding from Jemaah Islamiyah, al Qaeda’s regional affiliate in Southeast Asia. The BIFF rejected a peace treaty signed earlier this year between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
