Philippines The United States has provided logistical support for Manila’s campaign against the Abu Sayyaf, a militant Muslim group believed to be linked to Osama Bin Laden. American troops have been deployed to provide training and support in the hunt for rebels who operate in the south of the country.
Philippines officials are convinced that the Abu Sayyaf has received arms, training and other logistical support from al-Qaeda. They say that the network first set up links with the Abu Sayyaf in the early 1990s, and that recent kidnappings were "part of the fingerprints of al-Qaeda".
