ZAMBOANGA CITY/MANILA, 15 October 2003 — Philippine President Gloria Arroyo yesterday denied allegations that one of Asia’s most wanted terrorist suspects was executed in cold blood to present a publicity coup ahead of US President George W. Bush’s visit.
Opposition politicians have reacted with skepticism to government claims Fathur Rohman Al-Ghozi, who escaped from a Manila prison three months ago, was killed in a shoot-out with police on southern Mindanao island late Sunday.
But Arroyo remained defiant: “I stand by the operational report of the authorities on this case,” she said.
Arroyo called Al-Ghozi a key link in the “transnational terrorist conspiracies,” and said his death, together with the recent capture of alleged JI operations chief Hambali and the conviction of JI bombers in Indonesia, showed the region was making progress against terrorism.
“This reduces the weight of terrorist threats across the broad range of targets across Southeast Asia,” she said.
Arroyo is to leave for Kuala Lumpur today to attend a meeting of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC). She will be back tomorrow, well before the Oct. 18 visit of US President George W. Bush.
The body of Al-Ghozi, an Indonesian bomb-maker from the Jemaah Islamiyah group who was accused of staging or planning attacks across Southeast Asia, was flown to Manila yesterday to be turned over to the Indonesian Embassy.
Indonesian Consul Johannes Manginsela said they are preparing to send the remains to Jakarta where Al-Ghozi’s family is waiting.
“We are preparing now all the necessary documents to send the body to Indonesia,” he told reporters.
Two US forensics experts from the US Embasy in Manila arrived on Monday in Gen. Santos City to identify Al-Ghozi’s body, a day after he was killed in an alleged shootout with police commandos and soldiers in Pigcawayan town in the southern province of North Cotabato.
Military spokesman Lt. Col. Daniel Lucero said Al-Ghozi was with two motorcycle gunmen when security forces intercepted them on a checkpoint in Midtapan village in Pigcawayan.
When they were halted for running through a roadblock, Al-Ghozi reportedly jumped out of the vehicle clutching a grenade while his accomplices escaped.
“The troops tried to incapacitate him and shot him in the arms. When he attempted to remove the pin on the grenade, the troops shot him in the chest,” said army Brig. Gen. Agustin Demaala.
But some opposition figures alleged Al-Ghozi was killed to prevent him revealing alleged police complicity in his escape.
Sen. Aquilino Pimentel said: “It looks like Al-Ghozi and others before him were silenced to prevent them from spilling the beans on the authorities who made their escape possible.”
The opposition also questioned the timing of Al-Ghozi’s death, just days before Bush’s visit to the Philippines on Saturday.
The leftist Bayan (New Patriotic Alliance) said Al-Ghozi’s death “reads like an awfully crafted script. The timing is just too perfect.” It said the killing would be a “nice gift to give US President George W. Bush.”
“Killing of Al-Ghozi: Shootout or rubout?” screamed Philippine Daily Inquirer headline. “What shootout?” asked the Philippine Star.
Governor Emmanuel Pi?ol of North Cotabato province, where the supposed shootout happened, said his constituents claimed to have heard no fighting despite police accounts that Al-Ghozi had been involved in a shoot-out with his pursuers.
Security officials said troops received a tip-off from government informers that Al-Ghozi was traveling in a mini-jeep in the town and they have put up roadblocks and checkpoints and alerted the police.
Al-Ghozi escaped on July 14 along with Abu Sayyaf rebels Abdulmukim Edris and Omar Opik Lasal from a police prison facility in Manila while serving jail terms.
Al-Ghozi had confessed in court that he masterminded a series of bomb attacks in Manila in 2000, killing at least 21 people, authorities said.
Edris was killed also by troops after his arrest in Aug. 8 in Sultan Naga town in Lanao del Norte.
He allegedly tried to grab a rifle of his escort while leading soldiers to Al-Ghozi’s hideout. Lasal was captured on Oct. 8 in Dumalinao town of Zamboanga del Sur.
Military chief Gen. Narciso Abaya said the killing of Al-Ghozi is a big boost on global war against terrorism. “Let this be a warning to others that the Philippines is not a safe haven for terrorists,” Abaya told reporters.
Islamic Summit
Malaca?ang said Arroyo would be making history as she is the first Philippine president to be invited to the summit of the 34-year-old OIC that groups the world’s Muslim-led countries.
Defense Secretary Eduardo Ermita said it was a great honor for the president and the Philippines to receive such an invitation from the influential group.
He said Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, the incoming OIC chair, had invited Arroyo to the meeting “in recognition of the Philippine government’s genuine efforts to solve” the protracted problem in Mindanao.
Ermita said the president’s attendance would be a big boost to the peace talks with the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front which are set to resume in the Malaysian capital this month.
He said the OIC had also been very supportive of the mainstream Muslim rebel group, the Moro National Liberation Front, from the early 1970s until a peace agreement was signed in 1996.
