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| Southeast Asia |
| Rajah Soliman leader sez attacks will continue |
| 2005-11-04 |
| The leader of the Rajah Solaiman Islamic Movement (RSIM) on Friday vowed that the planned bomb attacks in Metro Manila and other parts of the country will proceed despite his arrest. TV Patrol World reported that according to Ahmad Islam Santos, comrades are out to continue the bombings after these were delayed following his arrest in Zamboanga City last week. The threat issued by Santos was included in the tactical interrogation report released by the military on Friday. Santos said that prior to the arrest, he was planning a bomb attack with two foreign-born terrorists. He identified the foreigners as members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). The military, however, said Santos was referring to Indonesian nationals Dulmatin and Umar Patek, both members of the Jema'ah Islamiyah (JI). The two Indonesians are suspected of masterminding the Bali bombings and have a $10-million price tag on their head. Meanwhile, the military said it has established the connection of RSIM with terrorist group Abu Sayyaf. The military said that in its tactical interrogation with Santos, the RSIM leader indicated ties with ASG leaders Khadaffy Janjalani and Jainal Antel Sali alias Abu Solaiman. The military said Santos also told interrogators that his group and the ASG are planning to stage suicide bombings in places frequented by foreigners. The "bombing project," as Santos claimed, is already in the works, with Sali providing the materials for the bomb. He also identified a certain Pio de Vera and Kareem Ayeras, his classmates in an "explosives training" in Pawas, Maguindanao in 2002, as the ones responsible for the purchase of explosives and the bomb-making. Santos also told the military that he joined the RSIM to be part of the "jihad" or holy war being waged by the ASG, the JI and al Qaeda. Santos, along with seven other RSIM members, were arrested last week by the police and military at a safe house in Sitio Triplet, Barangay San Jose, Zamboanga City. Among those captured were Santos's wife Narumruja Amdal and his son Yasser. The raiders also seized at least 49 anti-tank rockets, ammunition and an M-16 rifle. The military alleged that the RSIM planned to bomb a nightspot in Malate, Manila, during the Lenten season in an attack bigger than the bombings that killed more than 200 people in Bali, Indonesia, in 2002. Rear Admiral Tirso Danga, Armed Forces deputy chief of staff for intelligence, said the Santos, who is also known as Hilarion del Rosario Santos III, established a terrorist training camp with two Indonesian fugitives sought for the 2002 Bali bombings in his family’s farm in Pangasinan. The group also amassed a huge stockpile of explosives, Danga added. He said Santos and his group planned to detonate a bomb in Malate, a district foreign nationals frequent at night. The plot, however, was foiled after authorities discovered the explosives in an RSIM safehouse in Quezon City and later, Santos’ arrest in Zamboanga. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |