Rajah Solaiman leader arrested

MANILA, Philippines - Police intelligence operatives arrested a suspected leader of the radical Rajah Solaiman Movement (RSM) in Marawi City last Friday.

Philippine National Police-Intelligence Group (PNP-IG) chief Director Rolando Añonuevo said Dinno-Amor Rosalejos Pareja, also known as Khalil Pareja, was taken into custody and is being held without bail.

Pareja is the alleged leader of the RSM, a group of Christian converts to Islam that US and Philippine officials say is allied with two al-Qaeda-linked groups – the regional terror network Jemaah Islamiyah and the extremist Abu Sayyaf.

The RSM is believed to be behind the 2004 ferry bombing that killed 116 people in Manila Bay. It was the second-most deadly terror attack in Southeast Asia after the 2002 attack on the Indonesian resort island of Bali that killed 202 people.

PNP spokesman Senior Superintendent Leonardo Espina said Pareja is believed to have taken over leadership of the group following the arrest in 2005 of Hilarion Santos, the movement’s leader and Pareja’s brother-in-law.

The RSM and the Abu Sayyaf have been blamed for a series of bombings on Valentine’s Day in 2005 that killed about eight people and wounded 150 others in Manila and two cities in Mindanao.

In June last year, Washington froze the bank accounts and other financial assets of the group or its members in the US.

The US Treasury Department said the group has received training, money and operational assistance from the Jemaah Islamiyah and the Abu Sayyaf and from private Saudi sources that channeled funds through private charitable organizations in the Philippines. – With AP