MANILA, 17 May 2003 — Philippine police yesterday questioned a Filipino worker who claimed in a radio interview that he was offered money in Saudi Arabia to bomb one of the residential compounds where 34 people were killed earlier this week.
The man, who refused to be identified, told Manila radio station DZMM that while he was working as a technician in one of the compounds that were attacked Monday, he befriended Arab-looking men who offered him a large sum of money in exchange for planting a bomb there.
He said he returned to the Philippines in April for fear of his life.
A senior police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press that the man was found and brought in for questioning by police late yesterday. He refused to disclose any other details.
The police intelligence chief, Chief Supt. Arturo Lomibao, said police were trying to determine whether the man was telling the truth.
Anthony Taberna, one of the anchors who interviewed him, said the man reported he last met with the unidentified men in March. The man said he got scared and decided to go home even before his contract was finished, Taberna told The Associated Press.
“Last October, four men approached me and tried to brainwash me against my American co-workers,” a DZMM-affiliated news website quoted the man as saying.
The man said he refused the offer. He said the men wanted him to plant a bomb in a portion of the compound close to the roadside, where housing facilities assigned mostly to families are located. He did not name the compound, and it wasn’t clear which of the three bombed sites he was referring to.
The man said he knew at least one of the three Filipinos who died in the bombings. Also killed were eight Americans and nine bombers. Saudi officials said the attacks were linked to Osama Bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda terror network.
The man told the radio station he usually wore a uniform used by workers in the compound, which may have been why he was approached.
He also told DZMM he would be able to identify the men if he saw their pictures.
Taberna said the man indicated he was willing to talk to authorities if they can guarantee safety for him and his family.
Meanwhile, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo offered condolences to families of the three Filipinos killed and called the victims “martyrs of the land,” a presidential statement said.
