Ex-MILF rebel arrested for 2002 mall bombing

ZAMBOANGA CITY — A suspect in the deadly bombing of a shopping mall in General Santos City two years ago has been captured, the military said yesterday.

Benjie Ambi, 29, was arrested Sunday by combined military and police agents following a raid on his safehouse in Polomok town in South Cotabato, said Lt. Col. Renoir Pascua, information chief of the Southern Command (Southcom).

Ambi is facing charges of multiple murder and explosives possession in the April 2002 bombing of the Fitmart Mall in General Santos City that killed 14 people, the Southcom said.

Pascua said Ambi — who uses the alias Adam Puntuan and Commander Cobra — was reportedly a member of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the country’s main Muslim separatist group which is also alleged to have ties with the Jemaah Islamiyah regional terror group.

MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu could not confirm that Ambi was a member, saying he has not heard of him. He said Ambi’s nom de guerre, Cobra, is common among rebels.

Military and police are trying to verify if Ambi is linked to the Jakarta-based Jemaah Islamiyah.

The announcement of Ambi’s arrest came a day after one of the four arrested MILF members confirmed the MILF’s links with the JI.

The four MILF members were arrested on suspicion of having organized at least two deadly bombings, and of plotting more terrorist attacks in the southern Philippines.

Sammy Abdulgani, 24, one of four suspected JI militants arrested last week, told The STAR he had known of JI’s presence at Camp Abubakar since 1998 when he started his training at the MILF’s former enclave in Parang, Maguindanao.

Abdulgani disclosed one of his Indonesian JI trainors named Usman is moving around the Philippines.

Usman, he said, continues to supervise and provide funding to JI operations in the country.

This seems to corroborate the military’s suspicion that the JI is running training camps in Mindanao in collusion with local militants.

Also on Monday, Armed Forces vice chief of staff Lt. Gen. Rodolfo Garcia said two of the suspects have admitted to links with JI.

The MILF has demanded the release of Abdulgani and his alleged cohorts, saying they are regular MILF members and not terrorists.

With the recent arrests of alleged terrorists suspected to have ties with the MILF, military spokesman Lt. Col. Daniel Lucero advised the MILF leadership to "cleanse its ranks" of terrorists.

The rebels have repeatedly denied any links to foreign militants, although they say it is possible that terrorists may have slipped into their territory without their knowledge.

The MILF and the government will hold peace talks in neighboring Malaysia but no date has been set. A ceasefire has held since July.

Ambi was cornered in his safehouse by elements of the General Santos City Police Office, Philippine Drugs Enforcement Agency XII (PDEA), Joint Task Force Gensan and Intelligence Unit at about 6 a.m. Sunday, Pascua said.

Explosives were also found in the raid on his hideout, officials said.

The suspect’s arrest was only made public after tactical interrogation and verification by the authorities.

Ambi was turned over to the custody of the General Santos City Police Office for further interrogation.

He has a standing warrant of arrest issued by Judge Marivic Daray of regional trial court branch 53 for allegedly plotting the bombing of Fitmart Mall on April 21, 2002.

It was not clear why Ambi had bombed Fitmart but the military said he had previously been engaged in extortion rackets in the area. — With AFP