Disguised Terror Suspect Arrested at Airport, Philippines Says

A leading Philippine terrorism suspect wanted in connection with several deadly bombings was arrested Sunday wearing bandages to disguise his identity as he attempted to board a flight for Manila, authorities said.

Muklis Yunos, who allegedly helped carry out bombings that killed dozens of people in the Philippines, was arrested along with a man identified as Egyptian Muslim cleric Al Gabre Mahmud, authorities said.

Yunos, who is also known as Saifullah Yunos, could prove to be a key link between Islamic terrorist groups operating in the Philippines. Philippine authorities say Yunos is the chief of the “special operations” branch in charge of terrorist operations for the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, a Muslim separatist group waging a war of independence in the southern Philippines.

Yunos also allegedly collaborated with admitted Jemaah Islamiah terrorist Fathur Rohman Al Ghozi in bombings that killed 22 people in Manila in 2000 and a planned attack on Western embassies and other sites that Singaporean authorities foiled in 2001.

Jemaah Islamiah, a Southeast Asian terrorism network with reported links to Al Qaeda, allegedly carried out last year’s Bali nightclub bombing that killed 202 people.

Al Ghozi confessed to police that he and Yunos met in 2000 with Indonesian cleric Riduan Isamuddin, better known as Hambali, suspected of being the Jemaah Islamiah operations leader and a top Al Qaeda operative, to plan the Manila attacks. Al Ghozi also confessed that Yunos traveled with him to Marawi City here on the island of Mindanao, where he acquired 1.2 tons of explosives for use in the Singapore bomb plot.

“I know him as a member of the MILF and as my contact in the Philippines,” Al Ghozi said in a confession last July. Most recently, Yunos was wanted in connection with the May 10 bombing that killed 10 people in the southern Philippine town of Koronadal and his possible involvement in bombings in Davao City that killed 37 people in March and April.

“This is a big breakthrough in our global and regional war against terrorism,” Philippine military chief Gen. Narciso Abaya said.

Lt. Col. Renoir Pascua, spokesman for the military’s southern command, said Yunos and Mahmud were arrested at the airport in the city of Cagayan de Oro as they prepared to board a Philippine Airline flight.

Authorities said Mahmud was escorting Yunos, who pretended to be wounded and gave his name as Alex Soriano. “It was all faked,” Pascua said. It was unclear what tipped off authorities to Yunos’ identity.

Leaders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front have acknowledged that Yunos may have been a member but deny that he headed a terrorism branch or that the organization engages in terrorist attacks.

The arrests came a week after Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ordered a military offensive against the separatist group, which has an estimated 12,000 fighters.

Arroyo had earlier sought to negotiate a peace deal with the group, but negotiations collapsed as the violence escalated. Manila has since threatened to declare the organization a terrorist group.

Arroyo has been a strong supporter of President Bush’s war against terrorism and was rewarded last week with a state dinner at the White House. Bush pledged to send U.S. troops and military aid to help fight terrorism in the Philippines.

Authorities say Yunos and Al Ghozi first met in Afghanistan when they attended a terrorist training camp in the 1990s. Both are reported to be explosives experts. Al Ghozi later taught bomb making at the Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s training camp in the southern Philippines, authorities say.

Al Ghozi, an Indonesian, is serving at least 10 years in prison for explosives possession and will probably face more charges.

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Staff writer Paddock reported from Jakarta, Indonesia, and special correspondent Jacinto from Zamboanga City.