MANILA, June 27 (Reuters) - The Abu Sayyaf, the smallest and most deadly Muslim militant group in the Philippines, has chosen a Syria-trained Islamic scholar as its new leader, a senior general said on Wednesday.

Lieutenant-General Romeo Tolentino said the new militant leader, Yasser Igasan, was chosen three weeks ago after a straw poll by Abu Sayyaf field commanders at a rebel base on the southern island of Jolo.

"We believed that Igasan has taken over the leadership due to his religious background," Tolentino told reporters after meeting U.S. military officials at the army's main base in Manila.

"He's not new to the organisation. He was among the original founders of Abu Sayyaf, together with the group's first leader, Abdurajak Abubakar Janjalani."

Igasan would replace Janjalan's younger brother, Khaddafy, killed in a clash with Marines in mountains on Jolo in September 2006. Khaddafy's death was confirmed only in January after DNA tests by U.S. authorities.

He was the second leader of the group after his brother was killed in December 1998.

The military had said Radullan Sahiron, a one-armed militant said to be about 70, had then taken over the group, but intelligence officers said he was too old to be an effective commander.

The Jolo-born Igasan went to the Middle East in the mid-1990s to take up Islamic studies in Libya and Syria, returning to the southern Philippines in 2004.

"He saw very little combat and lacked military training and experience, unlike his two predecessors," said a senior police intelligence officer, raising doubts about Igasan's capability to hold together the ragtag militant group.

"He could very well become the group's spiritual leader but there could be other more capable commanders who would lead the Abu Sayyaf's military arm. We could be seeing some dramatic changes in Abu Sayyaf's structure and orientation."

An army intelligence officer told Reuters that Igasan's rise to Abu Sayyaf leadership indicated an internal struggle among the militant leaders.

"Igasan could bring the group's orientation closer to its Jemaah Islamiah neighbours in Indonesia," said the intelligence officer.

"What happens to Abu Sayyaf members engaged in banditry and criminal activities remain a big question mark. Could there be a split in the Abu Sayyaf? We can't say anything definite. We're still validating all the information we're getting."

AlertNet news is provided by