RP acknowledges world's regret over jailbreak<\/p>\n
Agencies, Manila<\/p>\n
President Gloria Arroyo on Friday acknowledged the world's
\ndisappointment over the escape of a Jamaah Islamiyah (JI)
\nterrorist from a Philippine jail and vowed to recapture the
\nIndonesian fugitive.<\/p>\n
The United States and Australia -- leaders of an international
\ncampaign against terrorism -- have expressed dismay over the
\nembarrassing escape on Monday of Indonesian Fathur Rohman Al-
\nGhozi from the Philippine police headquarters.<\/p>\n
\"We understand the position of the United States and other
\ncountries and we ourselves are concerned over the safety of their
\nnationals as well as that of our own,\" Arroyo said in a
\nstatement.<\/p>\n
She said that the government was committed to recapturing Al-
\nGhozi and affirmed the Philippines' \"strong role in the global
\nfight against terrorism\".<\/p>\n
Meanwhile Arroyo called on the country's main Muslim
\nseparatist rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)
\nto help in capturing Al-Ghozi.<\/p>\n
Arroyo cited the MILF's vow that they would not shelter or
\nwork with \"terrorists\" as a condition for resuming peace talks
\nwith Manila.<\/p>\n
She said Al-Ghozi was \"a primary test case\" of the MILF vow,
\nadding \"the peace process has a large stake on this issue.\"<\/p>\n
Police authorities in Manila on Friday re-enacted the escape
\nof Al-Ghozi and two members of the Abu Sayyaf Muslim kidnap group
\nfrom the police headquarters, revealing further laxity and
\ncarelessness by law-enforcers.<\/p>\n
It was also discovered that Al-Ghozi's jail was so poorly
\nconstructed that the cell door could be bent manually.<\/p>\n
\"I saw it when I investigated. I was really shocked as well,\"
\nInterior Secretary Jose Lina said.<\/p>\n
Lina said the escape could \"be plain stupidity (or) it can be
\na grand conspiracy\".<\/p>\n
He added, however, it was too great a coincidence that
\nsecurity would be so lax as to allow Al-Ghozi to flee when
\nAustralian Prime Minister John Howard was visiting Manila.<\/p>\n
Al-Ghozi and the two Abu Sayyaf members escaped from a jail in
\nthe police camp on Monday with no signs of a forced breakout.<\/p>\n
Philippine police, embarrassed by the escape of the notorious
\nJI bomb maker, shifted the blame on Friday to a defective jail
\ncell which could be opened without using keys.<\/p>\n
\"Now, we can attribute the escape not only to the human
\nelement but also to the physical defect or the structural defect
\nof the detention cell,\" Police Criminal Investigation Director
\nEduardo Matillano told reporters.<\/p>\n
Investigators showed the media on Friday the possible escape
\nroute of Al-Ghozi and two Abu Sayyaf members from the second
\nfloor of a 15-year-old building inside the national police
\nheadquarters in Manila.<\/p>\n
During the re-enactment, they demonstrated how easily the jail
\ncells could be opened even without removing the heavy-duty
\npadlocks that secured the latch of the iron doors.<\/p>\n
Al-Ghozi, who shared a cell with a width of about three metres
\nand length of seven metres with an Abu Sayyaf member, may have
\ngone past three sleeping jail guards in an adjacent room,
\ninvestigators said.<\/p>\n
The fugitives then could have walked out of the building and
\nscaled a concrete fence out of the compound, they said.<\/p>\n
Police officials meanwhile admitted that an Abu Sayyaf suspect
\nand former detainee had been allowed to work as a janitor in the
\njail and had possibly helped the three others escape.<\/p>\n
Matillano said that the former detainee, Abu Ali, who is a
\nstate witness on an explosives case, had confessed that several
\nweeks before the escape he had provided Al-Ghozi with advice on
\nfleeing the jail.<\/p>\n
Abu Ali had earlier been freed on bail. Police are studying
\nwhether to file new charges against him.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/rp-acknowledges-worlds-regret-over-jailbreak-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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