Monday, May 14, 2007 One-armed bandit behind Tacurong bomb explosion
KORONADAL CITY -- One of the suspects in the deadly Tacurong City blast blamed on the Al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah is a "one-armed bandit" who lost his arm to a bomb attack in Central Mindanao region in the last few years, police said.
Authorities claimed they already have a suspect in their custody.
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On Wednesday, authorities identified the suspects behind Tuesday's blast that killed three persons and wounded 28 others as Edris Sabal and Abdul Sabidi, alleged members of the Jemaah Islamiyah.
Nothing has been known so far of Sabidi but authorities gave substantial information on Sabal.
South Cotabato Provincial Police Director Robert Kiunisala said Sabal was allegedly involved in the bomb attack outside the KCC Mall here on February 21, 2003.
"He lost an arm when the bomb prematurely exploded then. He acted like he was a victim but deeper probe eventually showed that he was carrying the explosive. He was detained but eventually managed to post bail," Kiunisala said.
Two bombs exploded at KCC Mall that day, injuring three persons, including Sabal. A third explosive fashioned out of a 61 mm mortar shell, which was attached to a parked car in front of the shopping center, was detonated hours later.
"He (Sabal) is involved. Although he has only one arm, he has companions (who may have carried the attack in Tacurong)," Kiunisala said.
A day before the attack, the suspect was reported spotted somewhere in Sultan Kudarat province, where Tacurong belongs, the police official added.
South Cotabato Governor Daisy Avance Fuentes said Sabal has lost his right arm to the premature explosion at the KCC Mall.
But Sabal, at his hospital bed following the explosion, denied he was responsible for the twin explosions that sent shoppers scampering for safety.
"It was a frame-up. I have nothing to do with the bombing. I'm just a shopper. I appeal to the authorities to first conduct an extensive investigation before singling me out as the suspect," he told reporters then in Filipino.
Sabal, a Maguindanaoan in his 20s, has admitted he had studied Arabic in an Islamic school in Cotabato City.
He is supposedly hiding in the vast Liguasan Marsh, where they reportedly hatched the plan to attack Tacurong, Kiunisala said.
Meanwhile, Tacurong City Police Chief Joel Limson said they have a suspect in custody but the official declined to give names pending outcome of interrogation.
Limson reiterated that the Jemaah Islamiyah, which is listed by the United States government as a terrorist organization, is behind the latest blast in the locality.
The explosive was the same type that was planted at the police outpost on April 29, he said. Bomb experts had safely detonated the bomb. (BSS)
