MANILA, April 10 (Xinhuanet) -- An official of the US Embassy in Manila has described the southern Philippine island of Mindanao as"the new Mecca for terrorism" for the reported infiltration by the southeast Asian terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI).

¡¡¡¡In a recent interview with Australian SBS television company, the US embassy charge d'affaires Joseph Mussomeli said that the US government has strong evidence and reliable information that JI has links with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), according to a report posted on the US embassy website Sunday.

    "The threat is more long-term: that Mindanao is such a lawless -- certain portions of Mindanao -- are so lawless, so porous the borders that you run the risk of it becoming like an Afghanistan situation," Mussomeli was quoted as saying.

    He said that Washington has found "conclusive evidence" that JI,held responsible for the 2002 Bali attack, is maintaining camps in MILF-controlled areas in Mindanao.

    "The main information that I could divulge here is that certainJI operatives have been arrested by the Philippine authorities, and they have admitted freely that they have these links with the MILF and with ASG. But there is a great deal of evidence in all various channels, and it is conclusive that there are links between certain factions of the MILF and JI," said Mussomeli.

    "What we do find is that that is seems that the links are stronger, that Mindanao is almost...the new Mecca for terrorism," he added.

    The Philippine government has denied that the MILF is linked with the terrorist groups as a whole, but admitted that some factions of the rebel group could be linked with JI or ASG.

    The government is due to hold peace talks with MILF this month in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Enditem