RP says senior JI figure captured

Mon, 20 Oct 2003 | Source: REUTERS

PHILIPPINES: The Philippines said on Sunday it has captured one of the top operatives of Southeast Asian militant Islamic group Jamaah Islamiyah (JI).

Defense Secretary Eduardo Ermita said Taufik Rifqi was arrested on Oct. 2 in a hotel in Cotabato city on the southern island of Mindanao, where the military is battling a host of Moro rebel groups fighting for an Islamic state.

"It seems he is No. 3 in Southeast Asia," Ermita said of Rifqi's rank in Jamaah Islamiyah, which has been blamed for last year's bombings on the Indonesian resort island of Bali and accused of links with Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.

Security officials announced the arrest of Rifqi hours before U.S. President George W. Bush arrived in Manila on Saturday for talks with Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on boosting cooperation in their war on terror. -- Reuters

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