Prosecutors in the Philippines have indicted several suspected members of the Jemaah Islamiah (JI) militant group - including East Asia's most wanted man, Hambali - in connection with a series of bomb attacks in Manila in 2000. Eight people were charged on Monday for the bombings, one of the Philippines' worst terrorist incidents, in which 22 people were killed. Hambali - also known as Riduan Isamuddin - is thought to be the link between JI and al-Qaeda.
| Hambali was reported to have beat it to Pakistan last December. (I know. Comes as a surprise, doesn't it? I think I read somewhere that he's got a wife and kiddies in Quetta...) |
Indonesian police have said he played a role in both the Bali bombings last October and a string of attacks on Indonesian churches in 2000. As well as Hambali, suspected JI member Abubakar Faiz Bafana was also named in the indictment, along with Indonesian national Fathur Rohman al-Ghozi and five Filipinos believed to belong to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). Only Mr al-Ghozi is likely to go on trial, as Mr Bafana has already been detained in Singapore and the others are still at large. Before Monday's indictments, prosecutors had already charged several people in connection with the Manila bombings - notably Mukhlis Yunos, an alleged MILF commander. The latest list of suspects is a result of confessions by al-Ghozi and Yunos. Al-Ghozi was arrested in Manila in January 2002, and Yunos was detained in the southern Philippines in May this year. Yunos is set to appear in court on Tuesday. Al-Ghozi is in prison after pleading guilty to a separate offence of possessing explosives.
It's a start. |