Karachi, Pakistan ? The Muslim extremist group Abu Sayyaf is believed to be funneling ransom money on a regular basis to the al-Qaida network in Afghanistan, a top Philippine official said Monday, citing a U.S. intelligence report.

“That is what the FBI is telling us. The volume of money is apparently significant,” Justice Secretary Hernando Perez said. “We were told that perhaps money already here in the hands of terrorists is going toward the way of (Osama) bin Laden.”

The Abu Sayyaf has carried out bold seaborne raids in the last two years to kidnap groups of tourists from resort islands in Malaysia and the Philippines.

They have been holding Wichita, Kansas, missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham and Filipino nurse Ediborah Yap on Basilan island, near Zamboanga, for the past 10 months. The rebels have made millions of dollars in exchange for releasing some captives. Others have been beheaded, including Guillermo Sobero of Corona, California.

Perez said the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation suspects the al-Qaida network is using Muslim terrorists here to get funding. In the past, speculation focused on funds going the other direction: al-Qaida providing money to foster Islamic extremist groups in the Philippines.

Perez did not give specific figures for how much money may have been remitted so far or how it was being sent: “This is what we are trying to discover.”

Chief State Prosecutor Jovencito Zuno, who recently attended an FBI seminar on the financial underpinnings of terrorism, confirmed Perez’ statement.

The Philippines “is where the source of funds of terrorists come from. That’s why the Philippines is the No. 1 client of the FBI on this investigation,” Zuno said.

The Abu Sayyaf, which claims to be fighting for a separate Muslim state but has been branded by the Philippine government as a band of bandits, has been linked to al-Qaida, the group suspected of masterminding the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.

U.S. troops are conducting a six-month counterterrorism training exercise for Philippine troops in the southern Philippines to help them crush the Abu Sayyaf.