ZAMBOANGA CITY, 30 June 2005 — Government and separatist officials yesterday said three extremists allegedly involved in the 2003 bombing of the Davao International Airport in the southern Philippines have been captured.
National police chief Arturo Lomibao identified the trio as Ali Salipada, Norodin Mangalen and Pedro Guiamat, all suspected members of the Abu Sayyaf group and linked to the Southeast terror network Jemaah Islamiyah.
The suspects, all facing charges of multiple murder issued by a local court, were captured separately last week in Maguindanao province, he said.
Mangelen, also a principal suspect in the December 2004 bombing in General Santos city that killed 15 people, had confessed during an interrogation that he was a local liaison for Jemaah Islamiyah and the leader of a terror cell, Lomibao said.
“The suspects are part of a local JI cell operating in Mindanao,” the Philippines’ main southern island, said police intelligence Chief Superintendent Ismael Rafanan.
It was not immediately clear when the arrests took place, but Lomibao said Mangelen led police to the other men.
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the largest Moro separatist movement currently engaged in peace talks with Manila, said it helped in the arrest of the three terror suspects.
“The MILF, through the Ad Hoc Joint Action Group, passed on to authorities vital information about the trio that eventually led to their capture. We are closely working with the Coordinating Committees on the Cessation of Hostilities in the government’s anti-terror campaign in the southern Philippines,” MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu told Arab News.
A bomb hidden in a backpack exploded in March 3, 2003 at the Davao airport terminal, killing 19 people and wounding 147. At least two children and one American missionary William Hyde were among the dead.
Weeks later, a second bomb explosion ripped through the passenger terminal at the Sasa Wharf in Davao City, killing and injuring dozens of people.
It was not immediately known if the three Abu Sayyaf men were also involved in the attack, which had been initially blamed by the government of the MILF.
The MILF has agreed to help stamp out extremist forces in areas under its control in the southern Philippines as a show of its sincerity in seeking a peaceful settlement of the so-called Mindanao Conflict.
The peace talks are being brokered by Malaysia and supported by the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).
Peace negotiators ended last week a two-day meeting in Kuala Lumpur and both sides agreed to extend for another year the interim guidelines of the Ad Hoc Joint Action Group, which was organized in 2004 to pave the way for joint operation against terrorists hiding in the so-called MILF strongholds in the south.
Government peace negotiators earlier provided the rebel group with a list of 50 suspected terrorists, more than half of them foreigners and believed to be members of the Jemaah Islamiyah. The rest were Abu Sayyaf and renegade MILF members.
Among those being hunted are two JI terrorists, blamed for the deadly bombings in Bali, Indonesia, three years ago.
“Terrorism has no place in us and sincere cooperation between the MILF and the government is needed to protect the peace talks. We denounce terrorism and violence,” MILF chieftain Murad Ebrahim said.
The Jemaah Islamiyah is believed to have formed links with the Abu Sayyaf up to five years ago. Abu Sayyaf rebels once claimed to have fought for an Islamic state in the southern Philippines, but won infamy around the world for the repeated kidnapping and killing of tourists and locals. (Additional input from agencies)
