RP links JI leader to 2000 bombings
RP links JI leader to 2000 bombings
Agencies, Manila
An Indonesian leader of the al-Qaeda-linked Jamaah Islamiyah (JI)
network funded religious militants blamed for deadly bomb attacks
in Manila in 2000, Philippine prosecutors said on Wednesday.
They said they were collecting more evidence to see whether
Riduan Isamuddin -- also known as Hambali -- could be prosecuted
over the deaths of more than 20 people in the bombing of a train
and other targets in the Philippine capital on Dec. 30, 2000.
The allegations coincided with the trials in Indonesia of
cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, JI's alleged spiritual head, for treason
and of two other militants over the blasts on the resort island
of Bali in October 2002 that killed 202 people.
Also on Wednesday, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) --
the biggest Muslim rebel group in the Philippines -- denied
allegations made at Bashir's trial that JI militants trained at
its camps on the southern island of Mindanao.
Philippine state prosecutor Peter Ong said Hambali's alleged
involvement in the Manila bombings was revealed to investigators
by self-confessed JI member Fathur Rohman al-Ghozi, an
Indonesian, and local Moro militant Hadji Onos, alias Moklis.
Al-Ghozi and Moklis, both in Philippine custody, are also
being investigated over the attacks in Manila.
"We cannot subpoena (Hambali) because we do not know his
whereabouts," Ong told reporters.
He said the pair had also named a Malaysian, Faiz Abu Bakar
Bafana, as one of their financiers.
"Based on the sworn statements of al-Ghozi and Moklis, Hambali
and Faiz gave financial support to the bombing," he said.
Al-Ghozi told prosecutors he knew Moklis, and that they both
carried out the bombing with direction of both Hambali and
Bafana.
He said the two JI leaders arrived days before the attack to
check on how the planned terrorist attack was coming along.
"Actually, I and Moklis, along with two others, were the ones
who fetched them from the airport," al-Ghozi said referring to
Hambali and Bafana.
While in Manila, Hambali and Bafana discussed with them "the
jihad program in the Philippines and the Asian region," al-Ghozi
said without elaborating.
Police submitted as evidence a flight manifest that showed the
JI leaders arrived aboard a Malaysian Airlines flight on Dec. 1,
2000, bolstering intelligence reports that the MILF and the JI
operated together.
It said Bafana and Hambali had provided operational funds for
the attack through a bank account under a fictitious name
controlled by al-Ghozi.
Al-Ghozi and Moklis meanwhile were the ones who actually
carried out the attack, it said.
Al-Ghozi is serving a 17-year prison term in the Philippines
for possession of explosives and falsifying his travel papers.
He has admitted in writing to being a member of JI, which
intelligence agencies have accused of plotting to bomb Western
targets as part of a campaign to establish an Islamic state
embracing parts of Southeast Asia.
Al-Ghozi and Moklis were manacled and heavily guarded by
police with assault rifles when they were taken to the Department
of Justice building for a pre-trial hearing.
"Yes, I admit it, even if I die here now," Moklis told
prosecutors when asked whether he took part in planning the
Manila train attack in 2000.
Al-Ghozi was merely asked to sign his name and put his
thumbmark on statements he had previously given to police
admitting his involvement in the bombings.
There was an emotional moment at the hearing when Moklis asked
to talk alone with al-Ghozi. The two clasped hands before Moklis
broke down and cried.
A witness at Bashir's trial told a Jakarta court on Tuesday he
and other Indonesian militants had trained in handling explosives
at an MILF camp in the southern Philippines in 1997 and 1998.
"We do not allow Indonesians or any other foreigners to train
in our camps," MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu told Reuters by
telephone.
"Our training camp is exclusively for the MILF and we train
our people in guerrilla techniques and not in using explosives."
Meanwhile, Philippine authorities have arrested three
suspected Indonesian religious militants who were carrying an
"improvised explosive device" at a bus depot in the southern city
of General Santos, the military said on Wednesday.
The three were "in possession of an improvised explosive
device similar to a warhead on an anti-personnel rocket-propelled
grenade", armed forces vice chief of staff Lt. Gen. Rodolfo
Garcia said.
Yustinos Barahama, 18, Alan Panggilawan, 19, and Mark
Panggilawan, 18, were arrested at the depot on Tuesday, the
general told reporters.
On the basis of information from them, police raided a nearby
village and arrested a fourth Indonesian, Charlito Panggilawan,
18, and a Filipino man named Jun Parida, he said.
Police are investigating whether the four Indonesians are
members of the JI network blamed for a wave of bombings in
Indonesia, he said.