Top terror suspect breaks down

Saifullah Yunos, alias Muklis, considered the toughest and best-trained in terrorist tactics of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), cried like a baby and broke under intensive interrogation at the Philippine National Police (PNP) headquarters at Camp Crame.

Detained for the Rizal Day bombings three years ago that killed 22 people in five separate bomb attacks in Metro Manila, Yunos "really cried buckets during interrogation after learning that MILF leader Hashim Salamat and spokesman Eid Kabalu had disowned him as part of their group," a ranking police investigator told The STAR on condition of anonymity.

Yunos resented the way he had been disowned by his former comrades in the Muslim secessionist struggle in Mindanao. He claimed to have served the MILF faithfully, to the extent of constantly risking his life for the separatist group.

Out of desperation spawned by the manner by which the MILF treated him, Yunos accused Salamat and other MILF leaders of "enriching" themselves, while all the other MILF members must face hardship and privation in the field.

Yunos said he had literally been left on his own after his name cropped up in military and police investigations that linked him to several bombings in Mindanao and the Dec. 30, 2000 bombings that killed 22 people and wounded over a hundred others at the Light Rail Transit station in Blumentritt station and Plaza Ferguson across the US Embassy, both in Manila; a bus running on EDSA in Cubao, Quezon City, an abandoned gas station near the Dusit Hotel in Makati City, and a warehouse at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Parañaque City.

"Masamang-masama ang loob niya. Mayroong unwritten rule sa loob ng organization na huwag magpahuli at, pag nahuli, bahala ka na sa buhay mo (He is very, very upset. There is an unwritten rule in the organization not to get caught and that, if you get caught, you are on your own)," the source said.

Yunos claimed that all the terror activities being blamed on him by the PNP and the military were sanctioned by Salamat and members of the MILF central committee.

In his heavily guarded detention cell at the PNP Intelligence Group headquarters, Yunos’ first request was to be given a copy of the Koran. Even in detention, he continued his devotion to Allah, praying at least five times a day.

His only complaint about being in jail was the lack of spicy food and he made do with a regular menu of rice and fish.

Being a Muslim, Yunos is given chicken or beef dishes, but only one or twice a week.

This prompted his interrogators to order a bucket of spicy Kentucky Fried Chicken, on which he feasted while answering questions from the panel of interrogators — experts and analysts from the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA), Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the PNP.

Prior to his arrest last month, Yunos admitted that he lived a dangerous life, knowing that a relentless manhunt for him was on, with every member of the PNP and AFP on the alert for him.

At one time, Yunos had to hire a boat to reach an area in Marawi City, where he spent time hiding from the authorities. He said he was on the run because the military had been raiding all places he was known to frequent, including his residences, in an effort to pin him down.

"He had to look for other means of transportation to avoid being detected by the Army. He said he was avoiding police and military checkpoints everytime," the source said.

The "unfair" way the MILF leadership has been running the MILF has taken its toll on low-ranking members and sowing discontent among the group’s ranks, Yunos told probers.

This prompted some MILF members to mull the creation of a movement akin to the Rebolusyonaryong Alyansang Makabayan (RAM) within the MILF.

Sources said Yunos likened the extent of the low-ranking MILF members’ discontent with that felt by the RAM, a group that grew within the AFP and led a series of coup attempts against the administration of former President Corazon Aquino.

Yunos and his companion, Egyptian Dia’a Algabre, were arrested by the PNP Intelligence Group at the Cagayan de Oro airport on May 25.

Yunos faces criminal charges in connection with the Rizal Day bombings and the August 2000 bombing of the Jakarta residence of Ambassador to Indonesia Leonides Caday. The car bomb placed in the chassis of Caday’s car killed his driver and an Indonesian bystander and critically wounded the envoy.

Police investigators are set to bring Yunos to the Department of Justice for the preliminary investigation into his alleged involvement in the Dec. 30, 2000 bombings.

Top PNP officials said Yunos will be presented tomorrow to DOJ prosecutors along with convicted Indonesian terrorist Fathur Rohman Al-Ghozi and Abu Ali in connection with the Rizal Day bombings.

Police said the DOJ is also expected to discuss the merits of the case filed by the PNP Intelligence Group against Al-Ghozi and Yunos on the attack at Caday’s residence.