President Aquino said the Philippines will refuse “impossible or unclear” UN missions, after the UN refused Philippine peacekeeping troops’ requests for more weapons to fight off al Qaeda militants in the Golan area along the Syrian border and ordered the Philippine troops to surrender to secure the release of kidnapped Fijian peacekeepers. Military and intelligence sources said that wanted terrorist Zulkifli bin Abdul Hir a.k.a. Marwan, a Malaysian, is among those actively recruiting for the Islamic State in Mindanao, and that he is joined by Jemaah Islamiyah members Mawiyah, Quaim, and Abu Saad, and a Saudi named Abdurahman. Officials said they are having trouble arresting Moro National Liberation Front chairman Nur Misuari, who is wanted for crimes in September 2013 that killed over 200 people, as he is surrounded by armed followers in Sulu. The military is thinking of trying to rescue two German hostages held by an Abu Sayyaf splinter group.
