POLICE said that they have arrested two men allegedly behind a 2002 bombing in the southern Philippines that killed a town mayor and 16 others. Senior Supt. Romeo Rufino, police chief of South Cotabato province, said Abdulrahman Bedes Binago, 41, and Akmad Daril, 39, were arrested Tuesday at a shopping mall.
| "... and Binago was his name-oh!" |
The two men, wanted for the December 2002 bombing in Datu Piang town, were carrying unlicensed firearms at the time, and have been charged with illegal possession of firearms and violation of a weapons ban ahead of the May 10 presidential polls. Rufino said the suspects admitted to being members of the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front but denied involvement in the blast.
He said police seized documents from the suspects that would establish their links to Jemaah Islamiyah. He did not elaborate. MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu confirmed Binago is a field commander with the group but denied he was linked to any terrorists. |