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| Southeast Asia |
| Ten Indonesian suicide bombers hunted in Philippines |
| 2005-08-12 |
| The Philippines said Thursday it was hunting 10 Indonesian extremists who were feared to be plotting suicide attacks, as security was stepped up following a spate of bombings in the south. National Security Advisor Norberto Gonzales said the Indonesians, from an extremist group linked to Al-Qaeda, could be behind two bomb blasts in the southern city of Zamboanga on Wednesday which injured at least 26 people. He said two of the militants were already believed to be in the capital Manila scouting possible targets with the help of Filipino accomplices from the Abu Sayyaf group. Police in Zamboanga meanwhile announced they were questioning four suspects about the blasts. The Abu Sayyaf, a gang of Islamic militants blamed for the bombing of a ferry last year in Manila Bay that killed more than 100 people, were also suspected of planning the attacks in Zamboanga. "The searches will be intensified," said Gonzales, adding that possible targets in Manila such as hotels and shopping malls had been alerted. Gonzales said the Philippines had received a tip-off from unspecified foreign governments about the 10 Indonesians who were believed to be from the Jemaah Islamiyah group behind the 2002 bombings on the island of Bali. He declined to elaborate on the sources, but a security official told AFP that at least two top JI lieutenants who played key roles in the Bali attacks had slipped into the southern island of Mindanao. The two were identified as Omar Patek and Dulmatin, whose real name is Joko Pitono and who allegedly helped assemble the bombs that killed 202 people on the Indonesian resort island. Gonzales said the Indonesian suspects may be working closely with Dulmatin. "What is important here is we are beginning to see a new development as far as terrorism is concerned in the Philippines," Gonzales said. He said Jemaah Islamiyah was "beginning to employ non-Filipinos in the Philippines terror action, this to us is significant." The military said Wednesday's blasts in Zamboanga, which tore through a mini-bus and an inn, could be meant as a diversionary tactic by the Abu Sayyaf to slow a military offensive against the group. The militants, including Abu Sayyaf leader Khadaffy Janjalani, have been in a cat-and-mouse chase with the military in the jungles of central Mindanao island since July. "The police and military are under strict orders by the president to get to the root of these attacks and bring the perpetrators to justice," President Gloria Arroyo's spokesman Ignacio Bunye said. Zamboanga city police director Henry Lozanes said four suspects were being questioned about the blasts. "We picked up three suspects for questioning and another one suspect was questioned from among those wounded," he said. Police officials said the bombs in Zamboanga appeared to have been made with ammonium nitrate, a substance also used in fertiliser. National police chief, Director General Arturo Lomibao, visited the bombing sites and ordered tighter security in the city, describing the bombings as "a terrorist attack meant to harm civilians." The last major bombings in Zamboanga city took place on October 17, 2002 when two bombs exploded in a shopping mall, leaving six dead and 150 wounded. Security analysts in the region say that while the Abu Sayyaf ranks have fallen in recent years after its key leaders were captured or killed, its cells have been infiltrated by JI militants. A military intelligence report has also said that up to 40 JI militants trained last year in a rebel camp controlled by the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). The MILF is negotiating peace with Manila and has denied the report. |
| Posted by:phil_b |