Al-Qaida and Jemaah Islamiyah terror suspects in U.S. custody have told interrogators they financed operations in the Philippines through a money trail that has been uncovered with the recent arrest of a local militant, officials said Thursday. Hambali, the suspected operations chief captured last August in Thailand, disclosed that about $25,000 was sent to a terror cell in the Philippines last year through a man identified only as Zulkipli, security officials told reporters. Al-Qaida's operations chief, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, one of the suspected architects of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks in the United States, also told interrogators that his group has funneled funds for terrorist operations in Southeast Asia through Jemaah Islamiyah, they said. "You can imagine the kind of activities that that money can support," Defense Secretary Eduardo Ermita told a news conference. The money was apparently used for planning exercises but there was no immediate evidence it had financed actual attacks.
| What a stupid statement that is... |
The Philippine military has said that about 30 Jemaah Islamiyah operatives may be hiding on the main southern island of Mindanao to train Filipino militants. Hambali and Mohammed are both in U.S. custody in undisclosed locations. National police chief Hermogenes Ebdane said that U.S. authorities helped the Philippine government uncover the financial network. They also provided information from the debriefing and interrogation of Hambali and Mohammed, he said. Senior Supt. Romeo Ricardo, who heads a police anti-terror unit, said Zulkipli asked a Filipino accomplice who worked as a moneychanger, Jordan Abdullah, to convert the dollars into pesos, the local currency. The money was deposited in Abdullah's local bank account last July and some was later transferred to Zulkipli's bank account. In the following weeks, some of the money was given to a Jemaah Islamiyah bomb expert identified only as Marwan. Another chunk was used to buy a safe house in southern Cotabato city, where Zulkipli stayed. The money was also used for Abdullah's foreign currency exchange business, Ricardo said.
| ... which helped it turn into more money... |
Police officials have asked a government anti-money laundering agency to freeze the suspected terror funds remaining in the two bank accounts. Other accounts linked to Jemaah Islamiyah funds were being investigated, Ricardo said. Zulkipli was arrested in Malaysia late last year and the Philippines is seeking permission to interrogate him, he said. Abdullah was arrested April 3 in Cotabato and has provided details that helped Philippine authorities unravel Jemaah Islamiyah's money trail and the bank accounts used to hide funds intended for attacks and training. A handcuffed Abdullah was presented to reporters at the Department of National Defense Thursday. As he was being led away, he was asked whether the charges were true, and replied: "No."
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