N. Korea Sold Arms to Pro-Al-Qaida Extremists

From a Daily Yomiuri report:

North Korea sold more than 10,000 rifles and other weapons in 1999 and 2000 to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the largest pro-Al-Qaida extremist group in the Philippines, according to Southeast Asian security sources.

Between 1999 and 2002, North Korea also attempted to sell submersible vessels to the MILF, who are fighting for independence for Mindanao in the southern Philippines, the sources said.

North Korea's submersible infiltration craft are believed to be capable of carrying suicide bombers and other insurgents to coastal areas near targets. Security authorities in Southeast Asia have heightened their level of alert and are sharing information about North Korean arms smuggling operations, the sources said.

The MILF pays North Korea with money derived from drug smuggling and received from al-Qaida. At one time, it was known that MILF was receiving $50,000 per month from al-Qaida. MILF has been very active on the island of Mindanao with nine separate bases. The group is also known to provide training camps for the terrorist organization Jamaah Islamiyah, responsible for the Bali bombing in October 2002 and the explosion in front of the Australian Embassy in Jakarta in September 2004.