RP takes hut used by Al-Ghozi protectors<\/p>\n
Agencies, Zamboanga, Philippines<\/p>\n
Troops have overrun a hut believed to have been used as a
\nmonitoring post by Muslim gunmen protecting escaped Indonesian
\nmilitant Fathur Rohman Al-Ghozi in the southern Philippines, the
\nmilitary said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Seized from the hut in the town of Tungawan were
\ncommunications equipment and solar panels but no arrests were
\nmade because the rebels escaped hours before the soldiers arrived
\non Monday, the military said.<\/p>\n
\"While government troops were closing in on their target, said
\narmed group scampered from a makeshift hut leaving behind their
\ncommunications equipment,\" the military's southern command said.<\/p>\n
The men who fled are believed to be Moro gunmen protecting Al-
\nGhozi, who has been on the run after escaping from a jail inside
\nthe police headquarters in Manila in July.<\/p>\n
Al-Ghozi is a self-confessed member of the Jamaah Islamiyah
\n(JI), which western intelligence agencies have linked to Osama
\nbin Laden's al-Qaeda network and blamed for a spate of bombings
\nin Indonesia, including the Bali attacks that left over 200 dead
\nlast year.<\/p>\n
At the time of his escape, Al-Ghozi was serving a 17-year jail
\nterm for illegal possession of explosives. He has also admitted
\nto helping plot a bombing spree in Manila in December 2000 that
\nleft over 20 dead.<\/p>\n
Thousands of police officers, backed by military troops, have
\nbeen scouring areas in the southern Philippines for al-Ghozi.<\/p>\n
\"Operating troops are still in the area and conducting follow-
\nup operations,\" the southern command said.<\/p>\n
Separately, Indonesia's police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said
\non Tuesday that Indonesian police had failed to find Al-Ghozi
\nduring a hunt through his home village and other potential
\nhideouts.<\/p>\n
Indonesia was cooperating in the search for Al-Ghozi,
\nincluding information exchanges with the Philippines, because he
\ncould still carry out attacks, Bachtiar said.<\/p>\n
\"We watched his village in Java and we watched other places in
\nIndonesia,\" Bachtiar told reporters. \"Until now, we have no
\ninformation about Al-Ghozi...but we're working hard to find him.\"<\/p>\n
Bachtiar and other Southeast Asian police chiefs are in Manila
\nfor an annual conference.<\/p>\n
Philippine national police chief Hermogenes Ebdane said a
\nnational manhunt was focused in the southern Philippine region of
\nMindanao, where sightings of Al-Ghozi have been reported.<\/p>\n
A separate military search was under way on the southern
\nZamboanga peninsula, military sources said.<\/p>\n
Ebdane has come under intense criticism over the embarrassing
\nescape.<\/p>\n
Philippine and Singaporean police have also linked Al-Ghozi to
\na failed JI plot to bomb Western embassies and other targets in
\nSingapore in 2001.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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