Indon grilled on al-Qaeda links

Indonesian police investigators are still questioning at Camp Crame in Quezon City suspected terrorist Fathur Rohman al-Ghozi to determine his links with Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda international terrorist network.

Al-Ghozi is believed to be an Indonesian citizen but when he was arrested in Quiapo, Manila two weeks ago, police seized from him a birth certificate identifying him as a Filipino. He also had three different Philippine passports.

Police believe al-Ghozi is a member of Jemaah Islamiya, an Islamist group operating in Southeast Asia.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) has asked Indonesian police to send Camp Crame a copy of al-Ghozi’s birth certificate and several documents pertaining to Jemaah Islamiya.

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Leandro Mendoza has ordered intelligence director Chief Superintendent Roberto Delfin to find out how the suspect was able to get a birth certificate in the Philippines.

Indonesian police officers Yoro Yance, Warong, and Pranowo have reportedly received orders from Jakarta to remain in the country and continue the interrogation of al-Ghozi.

As the suspect was being grilled, police caught Tuesday an Indonesian journalist taking photographs of the highly secured headquarters of the PNP Intelligence Group at Camp Crame.

Sources said police took the journalist, whose name was withheld, to the Indonesian embassy in Makati City but no other details have been given.

A senior police official told The STAR yesterday efficient exchange of information between the PNP and the police forces of Indonesia and Singapore have led to more information linking Jemaah Islamiya with Bin Laden’s al-Qaeda.

"We know from information gathered that Jemaah Islamiya is one of the cells of al-Qaeda but we want to establish evidence that would further support that information," the police official said.

Based on information from Singapore police, the PNP disclosed yesterday that al-Ghozi was associated with Abu Bakar Ba’asyir, an Indonesian Muslim cleric who founded Jemaah Islamiya.

Al-Ghozi was arrested after 13 suspected terrorists linked to al-Qaeda were detained in Singapore on suspicion of plotting to blow up a busload of American sailors and bomb the embassies of Australia, the United Kingdom, Israel, and the United States.

Al-Ghozi, the operations officer of Jemaah Islamiya, was responsible for setting up terrorist cells in Southeast Asia, particularly the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia, police officials said.