October 13, 2003, The Washington Post, Philippine Forces Kill Terror Suspect; Al-Ghozi Had Fled Manila Jail in July, by Ellen Nakashima,

October 13, 2003, The Washington Post, Philippine Forces Kill Terror Suspect; Al-Ghozi Had Fled Manila Jail in July, by Ellen Nakashima, 700+ words

Philippine police backed by soldiers shot and killed a prominent Indonesian terrorism suspect in a brief gun battle on the southern island of Mindanao, a top security official said Monday.

Fathur Rahman al-Ghozi, a member of the regional militant group Jemaah Islamiah, had escaped from a Manila prison in July in an incident that embarrassed the Philippine government. He became the target of the largest manhunt in recent Philippine history, which at times involved tens of thousands of troops and security officers.

At 7:15 p.m. Sunday, a police team assisted by soldiers flagged down a vehicle traveling on a highway in the town of Pigkawayan in the province of North Cotabato, Philippine national security advisor Roilo Golez said. The small car did not stop, and a man later determined to be al-Ghozi grabbed his companion's firearm and began shooting, Golez said.

Al-Ghozi was shot and wounded, the official said. He was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead on arrival. His identity was confirmed by a police crime lab using a fingerprint from the body, Golez said. Al-Ghozi's companion, whose identity Golez did not know, escaped.

The killing of al-Ghozi came on the one-year anniversary of the Bali nightclub bombings, which killed 202 people and were blamed on Jemaah Islamiah, and six days before President Bush is scheduled to arrive in Manila for a state visit. Jemaah Islamiah has been tied to the al Qaeda terrorist network.

"It's very good timing," Golez said. "We've been closing in on him, but he has been very elusive and slippery. But finally we caught up with him. . . . I was not just relieved but very happy about the news."

The operation involved 67 special police tracker teams that had focused on Mindanao, where intelligence officials say al-Ghozi had contacts with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, a Muslim separatist group. Some of the group's members were believed to have helped al- Ghozi, intelligence officials said.

"The death of al-Ghozi signals that terrorism will never get far in the Philippines, and the long arms of the law will eventually get them," President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said in a statement. "This event should lift much of the anxieties of our people. . . . We are determined to end this transnational threat decisively."

Al-Ghozi, 32, a graduate of an Indonesian religious school founded by the alleged spiritual leader of Jemaah Islamiah, also studied in Pakistan and was trained in the use of weapons and explosives. He entered the Philippines in 1996 and, according to intelligence officials, trained Jemaah Islamiah recruits at a camp of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

Al-Ghozi was arrested in January 2002 at a hotel in Manila. He was serving a 10- to 12-year sentence for illegally possessing one ton of TNT, which was intended for attacks on Western targets in Singapore, including the U.S. Embassy, police and intelligence officials said. He was also accused of involvement in the bombing of the Philippine ambassador's home in Jakarta in August 2000, which seriously injured the ambassador and killed two bystanders, and of engineering the bombings that killed 22 people in Manila in December 2000.

On July 14, al-Ghozi and two other inmates walked out of their cell after learning that the latch on the door could be pried open enough to let them slip through.

Special correspondent Dana Batnag in Manila contributed to this report.