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Monday, October 16, 2006
Police to sue JI bombers; blast rocks Jolo
By Allen Estabillo and Al Jacinto
GENERAL SANTOS CITY -- Police will file multiple murder and frustrated murder charges on Monday against Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) bombers, Dulmatin and Umar Patek in last week's wave of bombings that left score of people dead and injured.
Police also cleared the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) of any involvement in the recent spate of bombings in Central Mindanao after North Cotabato Governor Emmanuel Piñol linked them to the blasts.
But even before police could file the charges against JI bombers an explosion shook a southern police camp late Sunday night, injuring at least three civilians while ordnance experts diffused a bomb earlier in the day elsewhere in Mindanao.
Central Mindanao Police Director German Doria said they were coordinating with the Department of Justice (DOJ) in the filing of the case. "We are continuously working with the DOJ to ensure an airtight case against them," he said.
Multiple murder and multiple frustrated murder charges are readied against alleged Indonesian bomb expert Dulmatin, fugitive bomber Abdulbasit Usman and several other members of the Abu Sayyaf and JI.
"We have witnesses and pieces of evidence pointing to them (Dulmatin and Patek) as the ones who ordered the bombings," said Doria, adding that the police coordinated with Piñol in the investigation of the case.
Dulmatin and Patek are said to be the brains in the October 2002 bombings in Bali, Indonesia that left over 200 people dead and scores injured. They fled to Mindanao shortly after the Baling bombings.
The two are said to be in the company of Abu Sayyaf Group chieftain Khadaffy Janjalani. They are being pursued by government in a continuing military offensive, dubbed as "Oplan Ultimatum," in the outskirts of Sulu.
Doria refused to elaborate on the evidence that the police has but said it was Dulmatin and Patek who ordered Usman to carry out bombings in Tacurong, Sultan Kudarat, Makilala, North Cotabato and Cotabato City.
Police and military officials said the explosives, fashioned from 81-mm mortar shells and improvised with battery power and cellular phone-controlled timing devices, were reportedly "JI signature bombs."
No evidence v. MILF
Police at the same time cleared the MILF of any hand in the attacks saying they are convinced that the rebel group had no involvement in the recent bombings.
Piñol earlier identified Usman as a commander of the MILF. He said Usman is a nephew of the late MILF chairman Hashim Salamat. Police said Usman was trained in urban warfare and demolition job in Afghanistan and Libya.
"The suspects may have some connections with several MILF members but not with the organization itself so we are not filing the case against the MILF," Doria said.
He said Usman, principal suspect in the April 2002 bombing of the FitMart department store here, was a former sub-commander of the MILF's 105th Brigade but later joined the Abu Sayyaf.
Government operatives captured Usman in July 2002 in Sultan Kudarat province in connection with the FitMart bombing that killed 15 people and injured more than 60 others.
Three months later, Usman escaped from the custody of the Sarangani police mobile group based in Alabel, Sarangani and was reported to have since reunited with his Abu Sayyaf comrades.
Doria said they would furnish the MILF a report on their investigation and the identity of the alleged suspects in last week's rash of bomb attacks so the rebel group could help track them down.
The MILF immediately welcomed the police official's statements saying they are more than willing to provide any help to the government.
"This is a good development. It will help clear the atmosphere as we go on with the peace process," MILF chief peace negotiator Mohagher Iqbal said in a phone interview.
Jolo blast
Meanwhile, three people were injured in Jolo island when a motorcycle taxi laden with explosives was detonated inside Camp Asturias, near a military hospital and a government-run hotel, said military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Bartolome Bacarro.
Military officials tagged the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group as behind Sunday's bombing in Jolo.
Bacarro said the bomb was placed inside a plastic bag and left in a tricycle parked outside the Peacekeepers Inn, a popular hotel and bar used by police and military personnel.
Provincial Police Chief Ahiron Ajirim said those injured were civilians. No one has claimed responsibility so far.
Bacarro said the wounded were rushed to a hospital in Jolo. He did not say what type of bomb was used in the attack, but said soldiers were sent to secure the area.
Earlier in the day, military ordnance experts disarmed two homemade bombs planted at a market in Pagadian City in Zamboanga del Sur province. The bomb, concealed in a backpack, was discovered by patrolling soldiers and militias at around 3 a.m. Sunday at the gate of the Agora market in downtown Pagadian, according to Bacarro.
He did not identify who were behind the failed bombing, but government forces recovered bombs assembled from a 40mm and 60mm mortars.
Pagadian, a bustling city and center of trade and commerce in Western Mindanao, was bombed in the past and authorities had linked the Abu Sayyaf and radical members of the MILF to the attacks.
"There is a signature and it points to the Abu Sayyaf and the JI. We can't say at this time whether the MILF was a part of this attempt to blow up the market," one army intelligence officer.
The bombings last week in the southern region were believed in retaliation to the arrest of the Indonesian wife and two children of Jemaah Islamiya bomber, Dulmatin, in Jolo island. Istiada Oemar Sovie and her two boys ages 6 and 8 were arrested after Filipino soldiers pursuing Dulmatin raided a terrorist hideout in Patikul town. (With reports from VR/Sunnex)
(October 16, 2006 issue)
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