The Philippine government has continued its probe the possible existence of a link between Osama bin Laden and the Abu Sayyaf, a senior official said.

"The correct position of the government here is that we continue surveillance," said National Security Adviser Roilo Golez, adding, "We cannot presume an organisation like the Al Qaeda to be dead and has no links with the separatist groups in southern Philippines. We are very cautious about this, we are very thorough."

"It's better to be on the side of caution, of being very careful, you assume that there are still remaining links, that was what Defence Secretary Angelo Reyes felt he should disclose," said Presidential Spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao after the Armed Forces and the defence department came up with different estimates on how long was the link between the Abu Sayyaf and bin Laden.

A military intelligence reports stated that in 1995, bin Laden's Al Qaeda organisation had stopped giving funds to various non-government organisations (NGOs) which supported the Abu Sayyaf.

Another report said the support ended in 1996, but was revived with the help of a Jordanian-Palestinian group in 1998.

Tiglao earlier claimed the Philippines was no longer a haven for terrorists. International reports, however, mentioned the Philippines as one of the countries where bin Laden has an active cell.

Al Jacinto, Our Zamboanga Correspondent adds: Abu Sayyaf leader Abu Sabaya has publicly announced that bin Laden has been supporting their group.

Last year, after kidnapping more than 50 people in Basilan island and U.S. national Jeffrey Schilling in Sulu, the Abu Sayyaf had demanded for the release of international terrorist Ramzi Ahmed Yousef and two others, including a blind cleric, jailed in the U.S. for the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Centre.

Yousef and Murad were linked to bin Laden. Murad was arrested but Yousef managed to escape after they were linked to a plot to kill Pope John Paul II in Manila in 1995.

Apart from the Abu Sayyaf spokesman, Philippine military spokesman Edilberto Adan also revealed that bin Laden has been providing weapons to the 1,000 strong Abu Sayyaf Group.

Our Manila Correspondent adds: At the same time, the presidential palace cleared the four Saudi Arabian nationals who stayed in the Philippines recently as mere namesakes of the suspected terrorists who used hijacked planes that crashed into the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon on September 11.

"Commissioner Andrea Domingo informed me today that the list of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), showed there was a mistaken identity. The four Saudi Arabian nationals were only namesakes," said Tiglao.

"They (FBI) faxed (to Manila) the actual names from their records. The FBI has informed that they're not the names of the hijackers," said Tiglao.

The FBI sent to Manila the photos of the alleged hijackers, and they did not match with the photos of the Saudi Arabian nationals with names similar to that of the hijackers, said a source.