RP police file charges against Hambali

RP police file charges against Hambali

Associated Press, Manila

Police have filed charges of illegal explosives possession
against a Malaysian and an Indonesian linked to bombings two
years ago that killed 22 people in the Philippine capital, a
state prosecutor said Tuesday.

The two men - Malaysian Faiz Bin Abu Bakar Bafana and
Indonesian Riduan Isamudin - are said to be members of the
Southeast Asian Islamic fundamentalist group Jemaah Islamiyah,
which allegedly plotted to attack Western targets in Singapore
last year.

Bafana has been arrested in Singapore but Isamudin, also known
as Hambali, is at large.

State Prosecutor Roberto Lao said the charges against the two
were based on the testimonies of a Filipino and another
Indonesian arrested earlier this year on suspicion they were
involved in procuring explosives for the Singapore bombing plot.

Authorities in Malaysia have said they believe Isamudin, said
to be a soft-spoken Islamic teacher, met with two of the Sept. 11
hijackers in 2000 and may be a central figure in terrorist groups
with links to Osama bin Laden that have emerged in Southeast
Asia.

Under Philippine legal procedures, state prosecutors review
charges filed by police to determine whether there is enough
evidence to bring the case to court.

Police said testimony against the two suspects was given by
Hussain Ramos, a Filipino arrested in the southern Philippines in
July, and Indonesian Roman Fathur Al-Ghozi, who was taken into
custody in January.

Al-Ghozi told police he helped plan the Manila bombings in
2000 and pleaded guilty to explosives possession after leading
Philippine police earlier this year to a cache of TNT that
officials say was to be used for terrorist attacks in Singapore.

The Indonesian, who is now serving a 12-year prison sentence,
implicated Ramos in the alleged Singapore plot.