August 13, 2003, The Philippine Star, Philippines: MILF spokesman says camps ordered to capture al-Ghozi,

August 13, 2003, The Philippine Star, Philippines: MILF spokesman says camps ordered to capture al-Ghozi,

Camp Siongco, Maguindanao: The army's 6th Infantry Division launched yesterday an extensive manhunt for escaped Indonesian bomber Fathur Roman al-Ghozi after he was reportedly spotted in areas controlled by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Kabuntalan town. Armed forces vice-chief, Lt-Gen Rodolfo Garcia, said he has asked the MILF cease-fire committee to order its forces to voluntarily step aside and allow soldiers to search for al-Ghozi in the area.

"We are not taking any chances. The primary effort now of the AFP [Armed Forces of the Philippines] is to find out if al-Ghozi is in Kabuntalan. We must emphasize that the MILF is not the target of our operations there," Garcia said. Garcia, chairman of the government cease-fire committee, said they have been receiving persistent intelligence feedback for three days on the presence of al-Ghozi in Kabuntalan.

"The government's cease-fire committee is now closely coordinating with its MILF counterpart to prevent undue confrontations in Kabuntalan between soldiers searching for al-Ghozi and local MILF forces," he said. Kabuntalan, a known lair of MILF rebels and criminal gangs identified with the notorious Pentagon kidnapping group, is less than 30 km southeast of 6th ID's [Infantry Division] headquarters. Local officials have called on guerrilla forces in Kabuntalan not to fight soldiers who may enter their territories to hunt down al-Ghozi. The MILF's cease-fire committee, led by Datu Benjie Midtimbang, had earlier said it is ready to cooperate with the government in its effort to recapture the Indonesian fugitive.

Armed Forces Southern Command chief Maj-Gen Roy Kyamko said soldiers are directing their operations on new locations where al-Ghozi could have gone but Kyamco declined to name them. MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu noted that the military shifted its operations from Lanao del Norte to Maguindanao.

The military said al-Ghozi managed to slip through a dragnet from his previous hideout in Barangay Rebucon in Sultan Naga Dimaporo town in Lanao del Norte. "But it will be impossible for al-Ghozi to immediately be in Maguindanao unless he will take a helicopter and parachute down. Even by land, it will be next to impossible," Kabalu said, doubting al-Ghozi's presence in the area.

Kabalu, however, assured the military the MILF has already ordered the arrest of al-Ghozi once spotted in their camps. "That order remained standing for our field commanders to capture al-Ghozi once spotted in our camps," he said.

President Arroyo said Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director-General Hermogenes Ebdane Jr is still in Mindanao personally supervising the manhunt for al-Ghozi. In her speech at the 40th anniversary celebration of the National Defence College at Camp Aguinaldo, Mrs Arroyo expressed the government's determination to recapture the Indonesian fugitive.

"The recapture of al-Ghozi is vital to the cause of fighting transnational terrorism. He has been identified with foreign terrorist cells training in Mindanao that must be neutralized at all costs to preempt their movement across borders," Mrs Arroyo said. The president announced the military has launched "highly focused operations" against al-Ghozi in Sultan Naga Dimaporo and Kabuntalan. Mrs Arroyo reiterated her warning to all armed groups, including the MILF, against sheltering al-Ghozi. [Passage omitted]