Rebels of Mindanao (5 page)

Sheik Kemal, concerned about Mahir's commitment and motivation, asked, “Do you want the job?” He needed a decision, or he would have to move on to the next candidate.

But Mahir had his own question first: “Why did you choose me?”

“You are devout. You have met Abdul Sali and he approves. You can't be traced, and you have proven yourself,” was the honest answer.

“There must be many like me.”

“There are. But you speak English. That will be important where you will be going.”

“Where will I be going, if I agree to go?”

“To Mindanao.”

“Oh, yes, part of Indonesia.”

“No. Just north of there, a short boat ride after Borneo. The southern Philippines.”

“For how long? What would be my mission?”

“You will be on jihad for Allah for as long as it takes you to make a delivery.

“And then? What about my family?” Mahir was still asking the right questions, and the sheik respected him for it. He had taken some time to think while they ate.

Sheik Kemal visited Cyprus often, but he was born near and lived in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia. Not related directly to the royal family by birth, he was a heroic leader and a charismatic figure. On occasion he still would ride among his tribe on the horse he transported into the desert in a custom-made trailer from his mansion in the city. The King of Saudi Arabia had confirmed local authority to a rival sheik for a big chunk of Eastern Saudi, rather than to Sheik Kemal. But Kemal had the real power. His clan accepted him as their leader in the ancient sense, with power derived directly from the land and the tribesmen who herded their goats and sheep on it.

Sheik Kemal also had money, indirect oil money. There were lots of ways to make money from the oil fields, and a percentage of most transactions in his informal fiefdom came to him in U.S. dollars in cash. He did not even have to ask for it. But he made sure that things ran
smoothly for the ARAMCO operations in their oil fields. He also got a share of the profits from the importers of goods from other countries, what he called a “purchase commission.” Sheik Kemal explained to foreign corporations that if they paid him a percentage of their sales he could facilitate business transactions-he could make them happen. The police had little to worry about in his villages, and the infrastructure functioned well. Because he and his tribesmen controlled the land, even if the administration in Al Khobar had the legal power and official sanction of the king, he, Sheik Kemal, was respected and not bothered by the concerns of the governors. He was a priest in the sense that all Muslim men are priests, men of God, and he was also an ulama, a scholar learned in the laws, because he had studied the Koran and applied its teachings in all that he did.

Kemal now asked Mahir. “Are you willing to leave your family for a month, for a year, forever?”

“I am willing to take on this mission so I will not have to leave my family again, and so we can live in quiet honor in our home.” Mahir summed up his feelings.

“But would you die for your beliefs? You know we would take care of your family.” Kemal's direct question and inherent promise surprised Mahir, but he answered spontaneously, “In the name of God the Merciful, the Compassionate, I am ready to sacrifice my life for Him.”

Kemal was impressed with the devotion and passion of the young man, and thought about how men like the two of them could change the world. Precisely because he had the power of money and of the people, he believed it was time to make that power felt and to alter the way things would be in the future in Saudi Arabia, indeed in the world. The Saudi government was already fearful of being overthrown. Their ambassador to Jordan had stated recently as an official position that rule by the royal family of Saudi Arabia had been an institution for the last 250 years and that tradition would not change for the next 250, even as the kingdom accepted new technologies from the industrialized world. When Kemal heard the report on satellite television, he was angered that the government of his country was so far out of touch. A cartoon character popped into his mind from the TV programs his children watched, and he visualized the pressure building in Aladdin's lamp. He
believed that once the genie of people's power popped out, it could never be put back. It would be the end of the monarchy, the end of the king and his family, and the beginning of popular rule under the laws of the Koran.

Of course, the new democracy would not have a European or American model. Sheik Kemal wanted to be certain that the new Saudi Arabia would take a shape similar to those limited, benevolent democracies in the neighboring emirate states, or perhaps Turkey, the homeland of the young man seated in front of him. Change was inevitable; the king would eventually die and there would be a new ruler. Sheik Kemal's purpose in life was to make certain there would not be another king, but a great emir, perhaps himself or another of his kind, a follower of the true prophet, not an admirer of the decadent West of Jews and Christians. The new emir would not be like the present officials, who drank alcohol and went with prostitutes as soon as they left the kingdom on a business or government trip.

He turned again to the young man from Turkey. “I know of your work in your homeland. It will be more difficult in foreign lands.”

“Yes, I accept that fact. I understand that the cell chief wherever I am sent will be my leader. I willingly accept my role.” Mahir admired Kemal's goals and vision and was comfortable in making this war his war; he would be on jihad. But also, he wanted the personal reward he would receive, or that his wife and son would receive if he were killed while engaged in the holy war. He accepted by telling the great leader sitting in front of him, “I have seen what you have achieved in your country, huge laser-guided machines grading the desert and constructing irrigation systems to leach the salt of centuries from the land, making it arable again, and systems to take salt out of seawater. I see what a strong leader can do. I see your vision, and I want to go on this mission for Allah.”

“Hakki, for a thousand years people like you have gone on their missions to protect Muslim lands. Now we are in danger of losing the war won by Saladin on the plains of Syria in 1187. Those who refused to listen to the prophets, the Jews who sit on Arab land, Americans who have invaded our heartland, and the monarchs who rule the countries where the holiest places are located, must be thrown out. Your mission
is very important in the new war.” The sheik was effective in motivating Mahir by mixing personal stories with political facts as he saw them. “We need men like you.”

Mahir was ready. He looked Kemal directly in the eyes and said, “I will go. When do I get the details?”

Sheik Kemal's contacts in Istanbul had cleared Mahir; and he had a good feeling about the young man sitting in front of him. He told Mahir, “Your mission is to deliver the resources to wage war in one of the places where the Jews and their American lackeys are most vulnerable now. Other teams like the one you will join in Mindanao will also be striking on the same day in other lands. We will make the world a field of blazing grass with too many hot spots for the enemies to put out. And for once and for all, Enshallah, we will also rid my nation of kings and return to the law of the Koran.”

Mahir continued to look for clarification of exactly what he would have to do. What were the “resources”? Would he need to smuggle a nuclear device, or carry biological weapons on his body? “What is my part?” he asked.

“You are not a Saudi national, but you are a Muslim.” Kemal was still not being specific as he tested the Turk. “You are about to commit to a great cause, and you will obtain riches for your family. Your part is to carry the fuel to those who will light the fuse.” Sheik Kemal and his cohorts knew what they wanted to achieve, and Mahir seemed to be the perfect instrument for them. They did not want to use a Saudi national or to be personally connected. The sheik continued, “The time is right to make the island of Mindanao, in the Republic of the Philippine Islands, a separate and independent Islamic state, separate from their oppressors, the government in Manila and their American allies. With that success achieved, Indonesia and Thailand will follow quickly. The fires burning there will be our signal to rise next against the royal family here in Saudi Arabia. Americans will lose their will; they will be overextended and demoralized. Even the overseas Jews will not want to spend their hoarded money and will go back to praying and counting their shekels.”

“I know what you say is true. I have seen the effects of imperialism and capitalism in my own land.” Mahir continued to say the things
Kemal wanted to hear. “The Americans have become weary of sacrificing their futures, their precious retirement funds, to gain only what they call the ‘hearts and minds' of foreigners in countries that have no relevance to them. I have studied about this during my training.”

“Yes. They pretend to build roads and bridges to help the native peoples, but it is just so they can move their Hummers around. Al Qaeda and our strike force in Mindanao, the Abu Sayaf, stay one step ahead of them. The infidels build it; we blow it up. But now they have killed a loyal leader in that place, a true martyr whom we have been supporting, the great Abu Sabaya, shot with four of his warriors. We will avenge their deaths and call the people to fight with us against global Zionism.” He continued to sketch out his vision for Mahir, without exaggeration. “The Americans will relive their lost war in Vietnam, an experience they so fear that it divides them even now. They could not hold their will together sufficiently to defeat a few rice farmers in one little country, they have lost their war in Iraq, they are confused now in Persia, and they will have no stomach and no capability to make a difference in the Philippines, in Indonesia, in Thailand, in the world. Our time is now.”

Sheik Kemal was emphatic with Mahir. “Our mission for you, our mission together, is to establish an Islamic government in Mindanao, independent of Manila. We will create a global caliphate as Mohammad envisioned; we will establish the
Islamic Republic of Mindanao
. With our victory, we will embarrass the Philippine government and the president personally. Politically, they will have to withdraw from the Philippine Security Initiative or lose Mindanao, or if they do not negotiate, we will simply take over Mindanao by force. Either way, same outcome, we win, they lose.”

Mahir confirmed that he knew what was going on in Southeast Asia. He said, “I comprehend; I read the newspapers and watch the television news.”

Sheik Kemal nodded. “Good. We will spread discontent; then we will win revolutions everywhere. You will carry five million American dollars in cash to our attack team.”

It was obvious to Mahir that there would be great risk attached to this assignment. His basic motivation was his duty; he could someday make the hajj knowing that he had performed a great deed for Allah. But the
immediate job was just to haul money, and he did not understand why the sheik, with all his contacts and operational capabilities in other countries, needed him for what seemed to be such an easy task.

“Why not just transfer it electronically to someone you trust?” he asked.

Sheik Kemal was becoming more open with Mahir. “First, it is too much money to transfer at once; it could be traced by American electronic surveillance measures, and stopped. Yes, over time we could transfer it gradually in small amounts, but we do not have time, our operatives in the field need it all now. Also, I do not trust some of the people along the electronic path the funds would follow. Our armed men in the field must have it in cash; they need cash to put into hands, not electronic credits in a bank.”

“If you do not trust others, why do you trust me?” Mahir asked.

“I do not especially trust you without reservation, but I have checked on you; I know your friends and what you have already done. When a man kills once, it is easier the second time.” The sheik demonstrated that his intelligence was accurate.

“And we know your family.” Sheik Kemal said it gently, but the message was clear.

Mahir had another question. “If you do not trust all our brothers in that country, I also cannot trust them completely. What happens if I am the one who winds up the hostage? What is
my
fall-back position?”

The sheik hesitated a bit; of course he had to track Mahir separately from whatever the simple field soldiers would report about him, as they might form their own conspiracy. Yet, if he had to get an independent message to Mahir directly, how would the Turk know it was genuine?

Sheik Kemal pointed to a large rock in the corner. “That stone is from the battlefield of the great victory of Saladin. I take it with me to remind me of my quest. Remember that stone. And yes,” he told Mahir, “yes, I have a fall-back position for our interests. If I choose to use it to help you, you will know whatever you are told is from me if you are presented with a green stone and a white flower.”

Mahir did not like obfuscation, ‘Just tell me what it is in simple terms.” He was persistent with the sheik.

“I did tell you in very simple terms. What could be more fundamental?
With the complexities that may evolve, my simple answer will cover any instance. It is elemental—green stone and white flower. That is my signal, and you will know the message is from me. Leave it at that. It is easy to remember.” Sheik Kemal obviously did not want to elaborate, and it was time to stop talking. Mahir would have to accept and work with what he had. Kemal told him, “Probably you will die, but we'll take care of your family. When you pick up two bags in Syria, I will transfer 250,000 dollars to your account that day.”

“At the end of my mission? What if I live?”

“Live or die, when Kumander Ali informs me that he has received the bags in Mindanao, I'll wire another 250,000.”

Mahir considered, looked the sheik in the eyes and said, “I will do it.”