‘Probe JI links of 2 bombing suspects’

CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao — Political and religious leaders in the province want the police to look into the possible links with the Jemaah Islamiyah of the two suspected bombers arrested in Tacurong City two days ago.

The suspects, Harris Daguindil and Mamalindo Sindatukan, did not resist arrest when policemen accosted them in a hospital where they were being treated for wounds they sustained when a bomb they were reportedly fabricating went off.

Senior Superintendent Suharto Tucao, Sultan Kudarat police director, said Daguindil and Sindatukan were implicated in the June 23 roadside bombing in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao, which left seven people dead and nearly killed Gov. Datu Andal Ampatuan.

Sources in the multisectoral Provincial Peace and Order Council, which includes Egyptian-trained clerics, said the police and the military should look into the possible ties of Daguindil and Sindatukan with the Jemaah Islamiyah, an Indonesian-based terror group.

The two suspects, according to their relatives, are both members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

The foiled attempt on Ampatuan’s life sparked hostilities in the neighboring towns of Mamasapano, Shariff Aguak and Datu Unsay between radical forces of the MILF and hundreds of civilian volunteers loyal to the governor from June 28 to July 6.

The hostilities only waned when the joint ceasefire committee and the Malaysian-led international monitoring team intervened.

MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu earlier denied that Daguindil and Sindatukan were involved in the June 23 bombing in Shariff Aguak.