Friday, June 20, 2003

Further evidence of the ties between terrorist groups. One of the suspects being held for the Bali bomb has admitted his role in the bombing of the Philippine Embassy in Jakarta in 2000.

A key suspect in the Bali bombings,Amrozi, admits Thursday his role in the bombing of Philippine ambassador's official residence here in August 2000.

But Amrozi told a Jakarta court that the attack was carried outby Faturrahman Al Ghozi.

"Al Ghozi told (me) he carried out the bombing at the Philippines ambassador's residence in Jakarta. He previously ordered me to prepare explosive materials. Fortunately, I had abundance of those materials I had bought from Tidar Kimia chemical shop in Surabaya," Amrozi told the judge panel.

A powerful bomb planted in a parked van exploded at the Philippine ambassador's Jakarta residence in August 2000, killing two people and injuring 21 others including Ambassador Leonides Caday.

As an aside to this, a bomb went off in front of the Philippine Embassy in Manado at the same time as the Bali bombing. It would seem that JI is willing to carry out operations for MILF. So not only are they sharing intelligence, equipment and training they are contracting out operations. Scary stuff.

Update: Apparently, it goes even deeper.

An Indonesian leader of the Al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiah network funded militants blamed for deadly bomb attacks in Manila in 2000, Philippine prosecutors said yesterday.

They said they were collecting more evidence to see whether Riduan Isamuddin — also known as Hambali — could be prosecuted over the deaths of more than 20 people in the bombing of a train and other targets in the Philippine capital on December 30, 2000.

An Indonesian terrorist operating in the capital of the Philippines. Meanwhile MILF is denying the whole thing.

Meanwhile, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (Milf) the biggest Muslim rebel group in the Philippines — denied allegations made at Bashir’s trial that Jemaah militants trained at its camps on the southern island of Mindanao.

“We do not allow Indonesians or any other foreigners to train in our camps,” Milf spokesman Eid Kabalu told Reuters by telephone.

“Our training camp is exclusively for the Milf and we train our people in guerrilla techniques and not in using explosives.”

“There is no need for the Milf to establish linkages with organisations” whose objectives he said were not the same as that of his 12,500-member group.

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