Al-Ghozi killed: RP Military

Al-Ghozi killed: RP Military

Agencies, Manila

Escaped Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) bomb-maker Fathur Rohman Al-Ghozi was killed on Sunday in a joint police-military operation in the southern Philippines, the military said.

"It is confirmed, but details will follow," military vice chief-of-staff Lt. Gen. Rodolfo Garcia said.

Al-Ghozi was serving a 17-year jail sentence for explosives possession when he escaped along with two Filipino Muslim militants from a jail inside the Manila police headquarters in July.

He has also confessed to taking part in a deadly string of bombings in Manila in December 2000 that killed 22 people. Authorities said he planned the bombings along with Hambali, also known as Riduan Isamuddin, JI's operations chief who is now in U.S. custody.

Garcia said Al-Ghozi was killed late on Sunday near the town of Pigkawayan in southern Cotabato province.

Other details of the operation could not yet be disclosed, he said.

In recent days the Philippines has reinforced security at possible targets ahead of Bush's visit.

Australia has said JI could increasingly turn its attention to the Philippines because it offered many targets such as Western-style clubs, hotels and multinational businesses.

JI is blamed for the nightclub bombings that killed 202 people on the Indonesian island of Bali a year ago.

Bush, who counts the Philippines as one of his main allies in the war on terror, will spend eight hours in Manila on Oct. 18 on his way to an Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Bangkok.