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.