Indon admits role in LRT bombing

Suspected Indonesian terrorist Fathur Rohman Al-Ghozi admitted during preliminary investigation yesterday that he planned the bombing of a Light Rail Transit (LRT) coach at the Blumentritt station in Manila on Dec. 30, 2000.

However, the 31-year-old Indonesian did not confess to participation in the terrorist bombing of four other places in Metro Manila that day. At least 22 people were killed and about a hundred others wounded in the almost simultaneous explosions.

Al-Ghozi also denied knowing Osama bin Laden or whether the Jemaah Islamiah – to which he belongs – has links with other Islamic organizations in the world.

The Jemaah Islamiah is a secret Islamic organization suspected of possible links with Bin Laden and his al-Qaeda network, prime suspects in last year’s Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.

Singapore has detained 12 of its citizens and one Malaysian for allegedly plotting to bomb US targets in the city-state, while Malaysia has arrested dozens of suspects.

In his affidavit, Al-Ghozi said he planned the LRT bombing and that he wanted to bomb the four other places but decided to leave the decision to a certain Muklis.

"But I told Muklis that if possible, no persons should be harmed and I would have wanted to bomb an airport," read an excerpt from his affidavit. "I gave Muklis and his group the freedom to choose other targets."

Witnesses identified Muklis as the one who left a bag in the LRT coach shortly before a bomb exploded while the train was unloading passengers at the Blumentritt station.

Apart from the LRT bombing on Rizal Day, terrorists also struck at Plaza Ferguson across the US Embassy in Manila, a cargo terminal in Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Pasay City, an abandoned gasoline station near the Dusit Hotel in Makati City, and a passenger bus traveling along EDSA in Cubao, Quezon City.

Speaking through an Indonesian interpreter, Al-Ghozi said the Rizal Day bombings were unleashed at the height of ousted President Joseph Estrada’s impeachment trial to avenge the all-out war against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

Al-Ghozi said he and Muklis bought P70,000 worth of explosives in Cebu and brought them to Metro Manila, but he did not say if these were used in the Rizal Day bombings.

During a preliminary hearing on Feb. 2, Al-Ghozi said he helped fund the terrorist attacks and named a certain Pais – a leader of Jamaah Islamiah – as the source of the money.

After his arrest in Quiapo, Manila on Jan. 15, Al-Ghozi was charged before the Department of Justice with murder, multiple frustrated murder and multiple attempted murder for the LRT bombing.

Since his arrest last month, Al-Ghozi has executed four different affidavits, the latest on Feb. 16 in which he recanted some of his previous statements.

Last Feb. 16, Al-Ghozi said: "The truth is that I was the one who planned the bombings which occurred on Dec. 30, 2000 in Metro Manila in which many people were killed and injured, and property destroyed."

The National Bureau of Investigation also filed a complaint before the justice department against Muklis, a certain Sammy Arinday and a Colonel Torres for their alleged involvement in the Rizal Day bombings.

Al-Ghozi told the panel of prosecutors that nobody had forced him to admit planning of the LRT bombing, and that he knew "in general" the contents of his affidavit.

However, the prosecutors did not require Al-Ghozi to swear to the affidavit’s veracity because he told them he does not know its details.

Comprising the panel of prosecutors were: Peter Ong, Melvin Abad, Jose Dumangas, Allan Mariano, Aristotle Reyes, and Mary Josephine Lazaro.