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Saturday, May 13, 2006
2 men slain in 'bombing' attempt terrorists?
By Mia E. Abellana
With Rene H. Martel
CEBU CITY -- Police suspect that two men who left a bomb in front of the entrance of a mall Thursday night could be members of an Islamist group out to make terrorist attacks in Cebu.
Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 Director Eduardo Gador said Ali Usop, alias Datu Ismael "Alex" Usop, and Datu Niel Ulama, alias Victor Ulama Zimenez, were suspected members of the Rajah Solaiman Revolutionary Movement.
The Rajah Solaiman group has links to the Abu Sayyaf and the Indonesian-based Jemaah Islamiyah.
However, aside from what appeared to be a bomb, the police have nothing solid yet to tag Usop and Ulama who were believed to have left it at the mall entrance.
Gador told reporters Friday that after Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) operatives in Manila raided a house in Marikina last April, the subjects of the search warrant reportedly fled to Cebu.
Gador said intelligence operatives have been scouring Cebu trying to verify the information until two men were caught planting a bomb in front of one of the entrances of the SM City Cebu past 8 p.m. Thursday.
"We were aware of that report. We have conducted coordinating meetings to find out if they were able to arrive here," Gador said.
Deputy Regional Director for Operations Lani-o Nerez, also said that of the seven to eight persons, they learned two arrived in Cebu.
The two also reportedly got support from another Rajah Solaiman member who was based in Cebu.
Gador did not discount the possibility that the group wanted to disrupt the security preparations for the upcoming Asean summit in December and spark fear among the delegates, discourage them from attending or cancel the summit.
"That would be victory for them," Gador said.
Nerez for his part does not think the group was out to threaten authorities but to harm civilians, as terrorists do.
The mall was getting ready to close when the bomb was discovered.
Police feared the bomb would have gone off at 9 p.m., when shoppers would be rushing out of the mall to go home and those going to the last full show at the movie theaters would be entering.
The entrance where the bomb was placed is also beside the mall's jeepney terminal.
Gador also said that the incident had the Australian government "very concerned."
Officials have been busy preparing for the summit, which will have 18 heads of state and their delegations arriving to attend.
Gador said China alone had 300 delegates with them.
Usop had an SM Supermall identification card, a torn Superferry ticket that showed he traveled from Manila to Iloilo then to Cagayan de Oro before arriving in Cebu, a Qatar phone card, a used Smart call card, a Touch Mobile SIM card, a piece of paper with various numbers and P630 inside his wallet.
As for Ulama, he had a Landbank of the Philippines ATM card, RCBC moneycard, a piece of paper with a rough sketch, a voucher, P1,310 cash, one Qatar riyal and a piece of paper with the name Anna written on it and a cellular phone number.
At the area where the shootout took place, police recovered two .45 pistols each loaded with four bullets, 20 M16 shells, six 9mm shells, a live bullet each of a .45 pistol and 9mm, 14 empty shells, seven deformed slugs and a fragmentation grenade.
The Homicide Section has requested that an autopsy and paraffin test be conducted on the two men.
The diffused bomb was also taken to the Regional Crime Laboratory for lifting of latent prints.
Nerez said they were still verifying if Usop did work as a baker at the mall.
There were reports that the identification card found on him was for another branch of the SM malls in Manila.
Police called the bomb an improvised explosive device (IED).
It was made of two M76 rifle grenades, a detonating cord, electric blasting cap secured by black electrical tape, a butane lighter fluid canister, parts of a clock, two 9-volt batteries, an AA battery and wires all inside a shoebox.
Gador said the threat of terrorism has always kept them on their toes, even before it was announced the Asean summit was to be held in Cebu.
He said police agencies in Asean countries should coordinate closely and have a free flow of information to restrict the movements of terrorist groups.
Gador though believes that if the public remains vigilant and the police are energetic in their intelligence gathering, incidents such as that of last Thursday could easily be quelled.
For his part, Criminal Intelligence and Investigation Bureau chief Pablo Labra II said in a radio interview that the immediate reporting of the mall's security personnel led to the early detection of the bomb.
He said the public should not be afraid as long as they continued to help and report anything suspicious. (Sun.Star Cebu)
(May 13, 2006 issue)
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