Thursday, May 06, 2004
JI suspect arrested in Mindanao: official (4:16 p.m.)
MANILA -- Anti-terror forces have broken up a cell of the Al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah group in Mindanao with the arrest of a key suspect, Defense Sec. Eduardo Ermita said Thursday.
The arrest last month of Jordan Mamso Abdullah, a 46-year-old Muslim, exposed the operation of a JI "logistical cell" allegedly funded by an Indonesian identified only as Zulkifli, Ermita said.
Abdullah was arrested in Cotabato City in Mindanao after authorities followed a money trail of US$25,000, allegedly wired by Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network to JI operatives.
His arrest prevented attacks in the country, and established clear links between the JI and unnamed "Filipino terrorist personalities in Mindanao", Ermita said.
He did not say why Abdullah's arrest was made public only days before the May 10 presidential elections, in which President Arroyo is seeking a second term. No other details on Zulkifli was also available.
"The terrorism threat and its apparatus is something not casually conjured. We may not know everything on Jordan but eventually we will," Ermita said.
"Our campaign against terror is gaining momemtum," he said.
Ermita said Abdullah gave "valuable information" on the JI presence in Mindanao, and the financial transactions by the group with Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda.
The JI is a Southeast Asian network of Islamic militants blamed for the October 2002 bombings that killed 202 people in Bali, Indonesia.
The military earlier claimed that some 30 JI Indonesian militants were training in camps controlled by the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Mindanao.
The MILF, which has been waging a 26-year rebellion for the establishment of an independent Islamic state, has denied the allegations. It has signed a ceasefire with Manila and is now engaged in peace talks.
In October last year, the military also arrested suspected JI bagman Taufek Refqe in Cotabato, who was accused of financing attacks in the south.
Troops are on heightened alert to thwart possible terror attacks in the country just days before the May 10 vote, in which President Arroyo is seeking a second term.
In March, Arroyo claimed authorities prevented attacks similar to the March 11 bombings in Madrid with the arrest of several Islamic militants. AFP |
