Indon says bomb ‘planted’ by cops

JAKARTA (AFP) – One of three Indonesians arrested in the Philippines on suspicion of terrorism has accused Philippine police of planting explosives in his luggage, a report said here yesterday.

"I saw it myself, the hand of the police that put those things into my luggage," Tamsil Linrung told the Koran Tempo daily from Manila.

He said police did not check the luggage of other passengers and that they planted the explosives in his luggage when they opened it for a manual check following X-ray examination.

Linrung said that police planted several round containers the size of marbles containing a white powder.

He said that he also had the impression that the Philippine police, including plainclothes officers, had been waiting for his arrival and were ready with a video camera to record the luggage check when it took place.

Manila police arrested Linrung and two other Indonesians — Agus Dwirkana and Abdul Jamal Balfas — at Manila airport on March 13 after officials allegedly found bomb-making materials in their bags.

Linrung has repeatedly denied he carried the materials, adding he and his two companions were on a business trip to the Philippines with a Thai businessman he identified as Doctor Prasan.

He said the three were now free on bail paid for by Prasan.

The Indonesian foreign ministry has said Linrung, Dwikarna and Balfas are due to stand trial on April 3.

Linrung told the Koran Tempo that their arrests were politically motivated and made at the behest of Indonesian officials.

"The police told me that these arrests are not criminal matters but political. They say this is an internal matter of your country and whatever your government wants we will try to oblige," Linrung said.

Vice President Hamzah Haz has denied the claim.

Philippine police have said all three reportedly met associates of Fathur Rohman al-Ghozi, another Indonesian detained in the Philippines. He has been linked to a string of bombings in five places in Metro Manila on Dec. 30, 2000 that left at least 22 people dead and a hundred wounded.

Al-Ghozi, who was arrested by Philippine police in January, has allegedly admitted being a bomb expert working for Jemaah Islamiyah, an outfit touted as the Southeast Asian wing of Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda network.