2 more Sayyaf suspects cleared

DAVAO CITY — Authorities have cleared two more people earlier suspected to be members of an Abu Sayyaf terror cell set to launch bombing attacks in Metro Manila.

Mayor Rodrigo Duterte said Ayob Cali and Mustapha Bituanon have been cleared by police and military investigators after finding no evidence linking them to any terror plot.

The two were cleared a day after another suspect, Ustadz Ali Adzaman, was released by the military and police authorities.

The three earlier surrendered to the Davao City police after they were included in a photo gallery of suspected Abu Sayyaf explosives experts last week.

Adzaman was released Friday while Cali and Bituanon were released after Duterte vouched for their integrity.

Duterte pointed out the three were long-time employees of the Davao City government.

Adzaman was a teacher in one of the Madrasah Arabic schools the city government has been funding since 1985.

Cali worked with the city local civil registrar’s office for 17 years while Bituanon is an employee of the city mayor.

"It is unfair to arrest people just because they are Muslims. I should have known if they were terrorists," Duterte said.

The police and military investigators said the three underwent tactical interrogation but found no evidence linking them to any terror plot.

However, Southern Mindanao police director Chief Superintendent Isidro Lapeña said investigators should be given ample time to check on the veracity of the claims of the three suspects.

"There are still procedural matters to take. And give authorities some time for checking on why they were included in the wanted list," Lapeña said.

Duterte, however, maintained that if the police and military wanted further investigation of the three, he said it should be done within the city, not in Manila.

"They are from here and they should be investigated here," the mayor said.

City housing chief Cesar Dataya said the three are contemplating to file a damage suit against the police and the military for including them in the terrorist list of the National Anti-Terrorism Task Force last week.

"After (the) Holy Week, we will be finalizing the cases the three will be filing. You could just imagine the trauma and damage their inclusion in the list have caused them and their families. They were included in the list without basis," Dataya said.

Dataya said Adzaman is thinking of filing charges against those who caused him and his family irreparable damage by including him in the wanted list.

Security forces have arrested at least six Muslims in Metro Manila in recent days in what President Arroyo said was a move to prevent "Madrid-level" bomb attacks by the Abu Sayyaf.

However, some opposition Muslim groups and relatives of the suspects insist that the arrested Muslims are innocent and that they were forced to confess to involvement in the alleged bombing plot.

Leaders of the Islamic community denounced yesterday a wave of arrests of suspected al-Qaeda-linked terrorists, accusing the government of using Muslims as "sacrificial lambs."

Islamic groups said they are planning to hold rallies in Metro Manila to protest what they perceive as discrimination.

Malacañang has repeatedly denied accusations that a crackdown on suspected Islamic extremists plotting terror attacks amounted to a campaign against the country’s Muslim minority.