Ex-reb tags bomb supplier

CEBU CITY — An erstwhile nondescript Talisay City fisherman,s who suddenly gained notoriety when he was arrested for alleged terrorist links, was positively identified the other day by a former Moro rebel who claimed to have bought from him the explosives used in the Rizal Day bombing in Metro Manila carried out by Indonesian terrorist Fathur Rohman al-Ghozi in Manila three years ago.

Cusain Ramos, also a fisherman but a native of Marawi City, picked out suspect Antonio Reyes from among the people inside the courtroom where he is facing charges of illegal possession of explosives.

Ramos, a member of the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) prior to his arrest in General Santos City, told the Regional Trial Court here that he bought explosive-grade gunpowder from Reyes several times prior to the Dec. 30, 2000 bombing in which more than a hundred people were either killed or wounded.

Ramos, who had risen to become an aide of an MILF commander named Adbul Salam in Lanao del Sur, was flown to Cebu purposely to identify Reyes.

Ramos said he first met Al-Ghozi in Lapu-Lapu City in 2000 but only knew him then as Abu Saad. He said he came to know of Saad’s real name only after he had been arrested.

Al-Ghozi sought his help in buying bomb components and he, in turn, sought out Reyes, whom he knew only as Tony way back in 1997 when he himself bought explosives for the MILF. A certain Mukles and a certain Bobby had introduced them.

Ramos said Al-Ghozi gave him P80,000 to pay for the explosives. A week after the payment, Ramos received two boxes of explosive powder from Reyes near the Carbon market. This was sometime in November 2000.

Ramos brought the boxes to Lapu-Lapu City where they were picked up by Al-Ghozi, who claimed they were destined for Singapore via General Santos City.

Reyes’ lawyer insisted that Ramos succeeded in identifying Reyes only because he had been shown pictures of his client by the prosecutors.

Judge Ireneo Lee Gako, who is trying Reyes, earlier warned the prosecutors that he would dismiss the case if they failed to present Ramos in court.

Police arrested Reyes on a warrant issued by Gako.

Cebu City police chief Cecil Ezra Sandalo, who used to head the Talisay City police, said Reyes was known to be a producer of blasting caps and fuses in that city. — Freeman News Service