June 21, 2003, The Philippine Star, Philippines close to proving link between Moro rebels, Jemaah Islamiyah,

June 21, 2003, The Philippine Star, Philippines close to proving link between Moro rebels, Jemaah Islamiyah,

Philippine National Police [PNP] investigators, with help from Indonesian authorities, are close to getting evidence to prove the ties between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Indonesia-based Jemaah Islamiyah [JI] terrorist group, Malacanang [presidential palace] said yesterday. However, President Arroyo said the government will not abandon the "peace initiative" if the MILF would cut its "links" with Al-Qa'idah and other international terrorist groups.

"This will help us deal with the threat in a more comprehensive manner, even as we pursue our policy of peace, security in Mindanao," she said. In Zamboanga City, the military said it will continue to push its offensive to capture top rebel leaders, even as the MILF's extended cease-fire ends midnight Saturday [21 June]. [passage omitted]

Mrs Arroyo said the government will work with Indonesia to trace people who had contacts with five Indonesians arrested in General Santos City on suspicion of planning a terror attack. Police said three of the men, arrested Tuesday near the bus terminal in General Santos, were found carrying a leather bag with three improvised bombs. "We will work with the Indonesian government to trace the underground contacts of these suspects ... [ellipsis as received] and get a clear picture of the transnational web of conspiracy," Mrs Arroyo said.

The government would seek evidence of a "transnational web of conspiracy" in the region, including Indonesia and Malaysia, she added. Police are investigating whether the suspects are members of the JI network blamed for a wave of bombings in Indonesia. [passage omitted]

Two suspected terrorists arrested in Cagayan de Oro City airport last month have been linked by police and military intelligence agents to the Al-Qa'idah international terrorist network of Usamah Bin Ladin. [passage omitted] PNP intelligence director Chief Superintendent Jesus Versoza, meanwhile, said his men had traced the connection between Saifullah Yunos and Egyptian Diya al-Jabri Mahmud to as far back as the Afghan war in the 1980s. Yunos was identified by Indonesian Faturrahman Al Ghozi, an alleged JI bomb expert, as the one who planned the Rizal Day bombings.

Al Ghozi, arrested in January last year for explosives possession, confessed to police last year that Yunos had helped him carry out the terrorist attack on the Light Rail Transit coach at Blumentritt street and Plaza Ferguson in Manila, Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Pasay City, and a passenger bus along EDSA [Epifanio de los Santos Avenue - site of People Power uprising] in Quezon City on 30 December, 2000. Police said Al Ghozi is a bomb expert from JI, which is blamed for the October bombings in Bali that left more than 200 dead, most of whom were Australians. [passage omitted]

The two detainees, who were reunited Tuesday during their preliminary investigation at the Department of Justice, implicated each other and admitted responsibility in the bomb attacks. "Yes, I admit it, even if I die here now," Yunos told prosecutors when asked whether he took part in planning the bomb attacks.

Al Ghozi, on the other hand, merely affixed his signature and thumb mark on the statements he had previously given to police admitting his participation in the bombings. Al Ghozi, who is serving a 17-year prison term in the Philippines for possession of explosives, has admitted in writing to being a member of JI, which intelligence agencies have accused of plotting to bomb Western targets as part of a campaign to establish an Islamic state in parts of Southeast Asia.

Al Ghozi and Yunos will be charged with multiple murder, multiple frustrated murder and multiple attempted murder. After his arrest on 25 May, Yunos admitted he was the chief of the MILF's special operations group and acted as the planner of the Rizal Day bombings. Yunos said he assembled the relay components of the bombs but it was Al Ghozi who assembled the timing devices and repacked the explosives.