Al-Ghozi tagged as brains behind embassy bombing

A ranking member of the Singapore-based Islamic fundamentalist group Jemaah Islamiya was tagged as the brains behind the Aug. 1, 2000 bombing of the Philippine Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, joint findings of the Singapore and Philippine police revealed yesterday.

Suspected Indonesian terrorist Fathur Al-Ghozi, of the Jemaah Islamiya group, was identified as the mastermind of the bombing that nearly killed Ambassador Leonides Caday, findings of the Singapore-RP investigators showed.

Investigation results indicated that the Jakarta bombing was part of a backlash from Jemaah Islamiya for the declaration by the Philippines of all-out war against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Mindanao by former President Joseph Estrada.

Singapore authorities informed their local counterparts that the Jemaah Islamiya, through Al-Ghozi, was behind the carnage that killed several people, including Indonesian bystanders, and left Caday critically injured.

Faiz Bin Bakar Bafala, one of the suspected Jemaah Islamiya terrorists rounded up in Singapore after the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center (WTC) in United States, confessed to Singapore police that his group was behind the bloody attack on the Philippine Embassy.

During interrogation, Bafala confessed his group planned the bombing of the Philippine Embassy in Indonesia after several MILF camps in Mindanao, including Camp Abubakar, fell to government troops.

Bafala is the suspected leader and financier of Jemaah Islamiya. He is now detained in Singapore’s Changi Prison under the city-state’s Internal Security Act.

Bafala tagged Al-Ghozi, Jemaah Islamiya’s operations officer and a bomb expert, as the main operator in the Jakarta bombing.

A ranking official of the Philippine National Police (PNP), who spoke on condition of anonymity, refused to confirm the Singapore police findings, claiming that they are still validating Bafala’s confession.

"We are still doing our own validation regarding Bafala’s confession (and statement) on Al-Ghozi’s involvement in the Jakarta bombing," the PNP official said.

However, sources in the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) confirmed that they were informed of the latest findings by the Singapore police regarding the Jakarta bombing.

Al-Ghozi was arrested last January in Quiapo, Manila, after which he pinpointed the location of a ton of explosives in General Santos City. Al-Ghozi pleaded guilty to charges of illegal possession of ammunition that were filed against him before the General Santos City and Zamboanga Regional Trial Courts.

Al-Ghozi was also prosecuted for alleged involvement in the Dec. 30, 2000 bombings. The PNP has established that the Jemaah Islamiya funded groups responsible for the simultaneous bombings that killed over 70 persons –including the chief of Makati City’s bomb squad and his deputy –and wounded several others at the Light Rail Transit (LRT) station in Blumentritt, Manila; a passenger bus in Cubao, Quezon City; a gasoline station across the Dusit Hotel in Makati City; Plaza Ferguson, across the US Embassy in Manila and a warehouse at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) cargo terminal in Pasay City.

Intelligence sources said Al-Ghozi passed the funds to Yunus Moklis, whom intelligence operatives identified as the commander of the MILF’s 33rd division. 

In a related development, Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) strategist Nur Mohammed Umog was arrested yesterday in Cotabato City by agents of the Philippine Army (PA).

Umog was positively identified by four of his companions, including Junior Jikiron (aka Ahmad Saluan), ASG’s planner, who is also known to have close links to ASG chieftain Khadafy Janjalani. The four ASG members were arrested in Cotabato City by plainclothes operatives of the PA’s 6th Infantry Division and 12th Intelligence Service Unit last May 7.

Jikiron, the military said, is one of the four ASG members implicated in large-scale extortion activities and has claimed responsibility for the April 21 bombing in General Santos City that killed 15 persons and injured 55 others.

Jikiron was arrested while withdrawing "protection money" deposited into his ATM account by businessmen in General Santos City. Over a dozen businessmen confirmed that the account number on Jikiron’s ATM card is the same as the number as the bank account where they deposited protection money after receiving threats that they would become victims of car bombs and arson attacks.

Umog was cornered at a safehouse in Cotabato City after his captured cohorts voluntarily showed military operatives where he could be caught. Both Umog and Jikiron are members of the Tausug tribe.

Umog has been using the alias Abu Muslim al-Ghazie when threatening businessmen in Central Mindanao, military agents said.

Meanwhile, six suspected terrorists with links to the al-Qaeda terrorist network detained in Lingayen, Pangasinan were released on bail by Municipal Circuit Trial Court Judge William Pascua.

The six suspected terrorists were released after paying P60,000 each for their temporary liberty, Lingayen police chief Supt. Virgilio Vinulan told the STAR yesterday. Vinulan identified the six as: Tyron Santos alias Dawud, Pio de Vera, Marvelo Egil, Alan Borloagdatan, Redendo Dellosa and Angelo Trinidad, all Muslim converts and members of the Haraka Muslim group, which is linked to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). — With reports from Jose Aravilla, John Unson, Eva de Leon