Abu Sayyaf suspect in foiled SEA Games plot nabbed

The military said yesterday it had detained an Islamic militant member of the Abu Sayyaf group whose arrest foiled a plot to disrupt the recently concluded 23rd Southeast Asian Games in Manila.

The man, Mohammad Guiman, is also a suspect in the Feb. 14 Makati City bus bombing claimed by the militant group which left four dead and wounded nearly 100, military Southern commander Lt. Gen. Edilberto Adan said.

"Guiman is responsible for handing over to Khalil Trinidad the explosives used during the Valentine’s Day bombings," he said. Trinidad was sentenced to death by a Makati court in connection with the bus attack.

Guiman and another suspected Islamic terrorist Pio Abogne de Vera were presented to the media at Camp Aguinaldo yesterday afternoon. Both are now undergoing military debriefing at the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP).

"This is a huge victory for the government in its drive against terrorism," Adan said.

Adan said Guiman also had a standing arrest warrant for kidnapping for his alleged role in the Abu Sayyaf raid of the Malaysian resort island of Sipadan in April 2000, during which a group of western tourists and Asian resort workers were abducted and later ransomed off for millions of dollars.

Guiman was arrested on Nov. 30, he said. The Southeast Asian Games were held from Nov. 27 to Dec. 5 in Manila and several parts of the country.

Adan said the arrest "preempted the planned terrorist activities to disrupt the successful conduct" of the SEA Games, but declined to say what those activities were.

De Vera’s arrest in Zamboanga City last Dec. 16 foiled a Rajah Solaiman Movement plot to bomb vital points in Metro Manila in retaliation for the arrest of RSM chieftain Ahmad Santos in late October, Adan said.

De Vera took over the RSM leadership after Santos was captured, he said. — AFP, Jaime Laude