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Sunday, October 08, 2006
RP seeks custody of terror suspect arrested in Indonesia
ZAMBOANGA -- Police said Saturday they are arranging to take custody of a suspected Muslim militant arrested recently in Indonesia so he can be tried for allegedly helping plot a deadly bombing in the southern Philippines.
An exchange of information between Indonesian and Philippine intelligence officers led to the arrest of suspected al-Qaida-linked militant Elmer Abram in North Sulawesi Province, Chief Superintendent German Doria said.
It was not immediately clear whether Abram is a Filipino or an Indonesian.
In Indonesia, provincial police spokesman Benny Bela confirmed that a special anti-terror unit arrested a man identified as Elmer Abram shortly after landing in Sam Ratulangi airport in North Sulawesi's provincial capital of Manado.
"That was a secret operation, I cannot give you more details on that," he said.
Arrangements were being made so Abram can be returned to the Philippines to face multiple murder charges, Doria said.
He said Abram has been charged for his alleged role in a Feb. 14 bomb attack that killed three people outside a mall in General Santos last year.
It was one of three nearly simultaneous blasts, dubbed the "Valentine's Day bombings," which killed eight people, including four in a bus explosion in Manila's financial district of Makati and another at a bus terminal in southern Davao city.
Security officials believe the bomb attacks were jointly plotted by local Abu Sayyaf guerrillas and the regional Indonesian-based militant group Jemaah Islamiyah, which are both linked to Osama bin Laden's terrorist network and accused of launching some of Asia's most lethal terrorist strikes.
A group of Christian converts to Islam, the Rajah Solaiman Revolutionary Movement, is suspected of providing help to Manila-based operatives to carry out the attacks, police officials have said.
Meanwhile, the US government on Saturday welcomed news of the arrest by government troops of an Indonesian woman believed to be the wife of suspected Jemaah Islamiyah bomb expert Dulmatin, who is believed to be hiding on southern Jolo island with Abu Sayyaf guerrillas and other Indonesian militants.
The wife of Dulmatin, who goes by one name, was captured early Tuesday in the mountainous town of Patikul in Jolo, where a US-backed offensive has targeted him and other al-Qaida-linked militants since Aug. 1, officials said.
"We're encouraged by this," US Embassy spokesman Matthew Lussenhop said of the arrest. "The Philippines and the US are strong partners in this fight against terrorism," he said.
Dulmatin's wife, Istiada H. Oemar Sovie also known as Amenah Toha, an Indonesian national, told interrogators that Jemaah Islamiya had targeted the Philippines for its support of the US "war on terror," Major Eugene Batara said Saturday.
"She admitted they are staying here in the Philippines because it is a target for being the first one which supported the call of the United States following the Sept. 11 (2001) attacks," Batara said.
She had also revealed that her husband Dulmatin and another JI bomb expert, Umar Patek, were still hiding on Jolo, protected by the Abu Sayyaf, a local Muslim extremist group which is also linked to the al-Qaeda terror network.
Dulmatin and fellow Indonesian Patek have been linked to the October 2002 nightclub bombings on the Indonesian resort island of Bali which killed more than 200 people, mostly Australian tourists.
The Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah are on Washington's list of terrorist organizations.
Local military officials say about 60,000 US-backed troops have been hunting militants of both groups in the vast mountain rainforest of Jolo. (AP)
(October 8, 2006 issue)
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