Authorities eye money trail left by ‘Indonesian’ bomb suspect

Authorities are now trying to trace the money trail left by the suspected Indonesian bomber who was arrested last week and linked to a large stockpile of explosives seized in General Santos City on Friday.

Immigration Commissioner Andrea Domingo claimed Farthur Rohamn Al-Ghozi, 30, alias Abu Saad, is a member of the al-Qaeda terrorist network and is involved in terrorist activities in several Southeast Asian nations.

However, Indonesian police said the suspect was a Canadian citizen, who may have lived in Indonesia in the past.

"We ivestigated his nationality and the fact is, he is a Canadian citizen of Arab descent," Indonesia’s national police spokesman Saleh Saaf told Reuters.

Aside from the stockpile of explosives, the government agents also seized documents identifying sources of funding and Al-Ghozi’s supposed cohorts, Domingo said.

Government agents are already scrutinizing documents on Al-Ghozi’s local and foreign bank accounts to establish his connection to the al-Qaeda and local groups, such as the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Al-Ghozi is reportedly an explosives trainer for MILF bombing squads, the police said.

"I think we will be able to trace more people from the telephone numbers that were taken from Al-Ghozi. Through the bank accounts, we will also be able to trace where the money used in terrorist activities in the Philippines came from," Domingo said.

Domingo said Al-Ghozi admitted being connected with the Jemaah Islamiya, a terrorist group operating in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia, and involvement in the Rizal Day bombings in 2000.

Probers said Al-Ghozi provided funding and bomb components to a certain Mukhlis Yunos, the principal suspect in the Rizal Day bombings that left 22 dead and more than 100 wounded.

"He definitely had a relationship with (a certain) Bafala, who is the head of operations of the terrorist organization Jemaah Islamiya in Singapore," Domingo said.

Earlier this month, Singaporean authorities arrested 13 people linked to Jemaah Islamiya who were supposedly planning attacks on US military personnel and US Navy ships.

Eight of them were confirmed to have received training in al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan, police said.

Al-Ghozi was supposedly part of that group but he managed to evade arrest and fled to Manila. He was about to leave for Bangkok, Thailand on the day he was arrested.

"We have very strong reasons to believe they were going to ship the explosives to Singapore via Malaysia," Domingo said.