News Update Muslim Extremists Field 2 Electoral Bets in Cotabato

COTABATO, Philippines (Xinhua) - Muslim extremists in the southern Philippines linked to Al Qaida of international terrorists Osama Bin Laden are joining in this month village polls in the country, the military said Thursday. Leaders of Abu Sayyaf have fielded their candidates for the village elections in the southern province of Basilan, said regional military commander Lt. Gen. Benjamin Dolorfino. "We learned that they fielded two of their candidates in the polls to generate funding," he said. Dolorfino said soldiers are keeping an eye to two candidates in the province with link to Abu Sayyaf. The 380-strong Abu Sayyaf group, founded in the early 1990s by Islamic extremists, is notorious for kidnappings, bombings and even beheadings in southern Philippines over the past decade.