Arroyo says she won't accept failure in hunt for Al-Ghozi
Arroyo says she won't accept failure in hunt for Al-Ghozi
Jim Gomez, Associated Press, Manila
Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said on Tuesday she would not accept failure in a massive hunt for a suspected Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) bomber who escaped from jail.
Two slum areas were raided by police in Manila on Tuesday, but no trace was found of Indonesian Fathur Rohman Al-Ghozi and two Filipino members of the brutal Abu Sayyaf Moro extremist group, police said.
The three escaped July 14 from the high-security detention center of the Intelligence Group in the national police headquarters in a major embarrassment for Arroyo and her high- profile, U.S.-backed war on terror, in amid suspicions of police collusion.
JI is a Southeast Asian group believed linked to al-Qaeda. Al- Ghozi has confessed to involvement in deadly bombings that killed 22 people in Manila in 2000 and was to have been arraigned on Monday, but the proceeding was reset for Aug. 20.
Arroyo called the escapes a national security concern, and said if there was police collusion, she wanted everyone involved to be prosecuted and jailed.
"A dead end in this investigation, just as a dead end in the hunt for Al-Ghozi, is not acceptable," Arroyo said in a statement. "We must leave no stone unturned because this is a primary test case for the rule of law and the integrity of the police."
Police have launched one of the biggest manhunts in recent memory, with 63 special tracker teams, backed by over 5,000 troops, 300,000 licensed security guards and officers from some 42,000 villages nationwide. Neighboring Indonesia and Malaysia also are on the lookout for Al-Ghozi.
Early Tuesday, about 100 police raided a slum community in Manila's Tondo district after a tip that the two suspected Abu Sayyaf escapees were seen there, but found nothing. A man and a woman were brought in for questioning.
Police were also searching a Muslim community in the capital. A number of southern Philippines provinces were being checked.
Police officials said they suspect Al-Ghozi is still in the country.
On Tuesday, police officials said that 90 intelligence agents have been removed from their posts in a reshuffle set off by the escapes.
The move, affecting 17 officers and 73 men from the national police's powerful Intelligence Group, is the most serious fallout so far from the embarrassing July 14 escape of Al-Ghozi and two suspected Filipino terrorists.
National police Gen. Hermogenes Ebdane offered to resign last week, but Arroyo instead asked him to lead the massive manhunt.
Chief Supt. Arturo Lomibao, police director for intelligence, said the removal of the intelligence agents was part of efforts to reform the police's intelligence arm following the escapes from a high-security detention center in police headquarters.
The dismissed agents did not have enough intelligence work training and would be transferred to other police units, Lomibao told The Associated Press by telephone.
Lomibao said an intelligence officer who headed a unit in charge of coordinating with foreign intelligence agencies had also been relieved and restricted to police camp for investigation. There were allegations that the officer was seen in or near the Intelligence Group building when the escapes took place, Lomibao said.
Four policemen in charge of guarding the escapees earlier were relieved of their posts and charged with negligence.