Indons can’t find Al-Ghozi either

Indonesian police failed to find escaped terror suspect and convicted bomber Fathur Rohman al-Ghozi during a hunt through his home village and other potential hideouts, Jakarta’s top police official said yesterday.

Indonesia was cooperating in the search for Al-Ghozi, including information exchanges with the Philippines, because he could still carry out attacks, Indonesian national police chief Gen. Da’i Bachtiar said.

"We watched his village in Java and we watched other places in Indonesia," Bachtiar told reporters. "Until now, we have no information about Al-Ghozi… but we’re working hard to find him."

Bachtiar and other Southeast Asian police chiefs are in Manila for the 23rd annual Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) chiefs of police conference at the Centennial Hall of the Manila Hotel.

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. said the Philippine end of the manhunt for the escaped bomber is focused in Mindanao, where sightings of Al-Ghozi have been reported.

At the time of his escape, Al-Ghozi was serving a 17-year jail term for illegal possession of explosives. He also admitted to helping plot a bombing spree in Manila on Dec. 30, 2000 that left 22 people dead, including the chief and deputy chief of Makati City’s bomb squad, and injured over 100 others.

He escaped from the Intelligence Group lockup within PNP headquarters at Camp Crame in Quezon City on July 14.

Al-Ghozi escaped with Abdulmukim Edris and Omar Opik Lasal alias Merang Abante, two alleged members of the Muslim extremist Abu Sayyaf group. Edris was recaptured last month in southern Lanao del Norte province by soldiers but was killed as he allegedly tried to grab their weapons.

Ebdane has come under intense criticism over the embarrassing escape.

A government commission that investigated Al-Ghozi’s escape concluded last month there was no evidence of collusion among his custodians but said they were negligent and recommended criminal charges against seven police officers. It also urged that three detainees, who allegedly helped Al-Ghozi escape, be charged.

Philippine and Singaporean police have also linked Al-Ghozi to a failed JI plot to bomb Western embassies and other targets in Singapore in 2001.

Singapore police commissioner Khoo Boon Hui, also attending the Manila conference, expressed hope that Philippine authorities could arrest Al-Ghozi soon.

"His escape was a setback to the fight against terrorism and we’re quite concerned," he told The Associated Press.

Western intelligence agencies have linked JI to Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda network and blamed it for a spate of bombings in Indonesia, including the Bali attacks that left over 200 dead last year.

Alive and Kicking?

Ebdane said Al-Ghozi is "still alive. He is in the southern Philippines, more particularly in the Mindanao area."

Later in the day, PNP spokesman Senior Superintendent Leopoldo Bataoil also dismissed the claims made by an alleged Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) commander that Al-Ghozi was killed over the weekend in an encounter.

"We maintain the earlier pronouncement of the PNP about the findings (on) Al-Ghozi," Bataoil said, adding that the information given to them by the alleged MILF commander Norham Sampayan must still be evaluated.

"Al-Ghozi is still alive, he has not been killed," Ebdane said. "There is a joint, concerted effort by agencies not only in the PNP, but the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and other agencies, including non-government organizations and the MILF."

Intelligence Service of the AFP (ISAFP) chief Maj. Pedro Cabuay admitted that while they initially mistook a slain gunman for Al-Ghozi, "when the (AFP) called on the NBI and experts from the PNP and the thumb marks were lifted (from the cadaver), it was found out that the man we thought to be Mr. Al-Ghozi turned out to be somebody else who, at this time, is still unidentified."

Sampayan, however, maintains that the gunman slain by Army Scout Rangers in an encounter earlier this week is Al-Ghozi. "The man killed was Fathur Rohman al-Ghozi," he said in an interview with radio station dzMM.

Sampayan said his group took custody of Al-Ghozi and other groups within the MILF were aware of their custody of the fugitive bomber, but were opposed to turning Al-Ghozi over to the authorities.

He added that his group was on its way to turn Al-Ghozi over to government troops when they encountered the Scout Rangers.

"I wish they wouldn’t turn things inside out," Sampayan said. "We want the people of the Philippines to know Al-Ghozi is dead." He said they ensured that they would turn Al-Ghozi over to the military, dead or alive.

A bounty of P10 million is offered for the recapture of Al-Ghozi.

No Dice

In Zamboanga, troops overran a hut believed to have been used as a monitoring post by Muslim gunmen protecting Al-Ghozi in Mindanao, the military said Tuesday.

Seized from the hut in the town of Tungawan were communications equipment and solar panels but no arrests were made because the rebels escaped hours before the soldiers arrived on Monday, the military said.

"While government troops were closing in on their target, said armed group scampered from a makeshift hut leaving behind their communications equipment," the military’s southern command (Southcom) said.

The men who fled are believed to be Filipino Muslim gunmen protecting Al-Ghozi, who has been on the run after escaping from a jail inside the police headquarters in Manila in July. — Christina Mendez, Jaime Laude, Roel Pareño, AP and AFP