Al-Ghozi no longer a problem — Ebdane

Efforts to recapture Indonesian bomb maker Fathur Rohman al-Ghozi should no longer be a big problem, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. said yesterday.

"Huwag na ninyo problemahin si Al-Ghozi," Ebdane said when asked if there’s a need to coordinate with the Thailand government to interrogate captured Jemaah Islamiyah leader Riduan Isamuddin, alias Hambali, over the possible whereabouts of Al-Ghozi.

Ebdane did not issue any categorical statement whether Al-Ghozi has been killed or recaptured as earlier reported.

"He has been killed and recaptured by the media. So, abangan ang susunod na kabanata (just wait for the next episode)," Ebdane said.

He said Al-Ghozi and his two Abu Sayyaf cohorts, Omar Opik Lasal and Abdulmukim Edris, arrived together in Mindanao after they escaped on July 14 from their detention cell at Camp Crame.

"When they left (Camp) Crame, they were together when they went to Mindanao," he said.

Ebdane said the three fugitives went separate ways sometime Aug. 6. Edris was killed the following day by soldiers at a road checkpoint in a town in Lanao del Norte after he supposedly tried to grab a soldier’s weapon.

With the arrest of Hambali, tagged as Osama bin Laden’s counterpart in Asia, Ebdane said the PNP will have to "prioritize" its objectives in going after Al-Ghozi and Lasal.

Malacañang, meanwhile, has reiterated the desire of the government to recapture Al-Ghozi "preferably alive" to get information on how he was able to escape with two Abu Sayyaf bandits from their detention cell.

"Preferably alive because we could get so much intelligence information once we get Al-Ghozi back," Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said over state-run Radyo ng Bayan.

Bunye noted that the theater of manhunt operations against the Indonesian fugitive has widened with the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) leading the manhunt.

The military has focused its manhunt in Kabuntalan, Maguindanao following reports that he was seen in the area.

"And like what happened to Edris, I think the time would come that this Al-Ghozi would be reached by the long arm of the law," Bunye said.

The jailbreak embarrassed President Arroyo since it came on the first day of Australian Prime Minister John Howard’s visit to Manila to boost anti-terror cooperation.

The escape, blamed on corruption in the PNP, also sparked an international outrage.

Tagged as one of Southeast Asia’s top terrorists, Al-Ghozi had been serving a 17-year jail term for explosives possession when he escaped.

Mrs. Arroyo ordered Ebdane to personally lead a team to hunt for Al-Ghozi.

Ebdane, in turn, issued a directive ordering his men to capture Al-Ghozi "preferably alive" to enable the Indonesian to reveal how he was able to escape and identify those who supposedly helped him in the jailbreak.

In visiting Kabuntalan Thursday, Mrs. Arroyo personally exhorted troops to "strengthen the dragnet." — With Marichu Villanueva, Aurea Calica