MANILA, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / August 31, 2008) – Philippine authorities were interrogating a suspected terror leader blamed for the deadly attack on a ferry off Manila Bay that killed over 100 people in 2004.
Authorities are holding Ruben Lavilla Jr., after he was arrested and deported back home on Saturday from Bahrain, where he applied for a job at the Philippine Embassy.
Lavilla is said to be the leader of the Rajah Solaiman Movement, whose other members had been arrested in Zamboanga City in the past, among them Ahmed Santos, another leader of the local terror group allied with the Abu Sayyaf and the Jemaah Islamiya.
Lavilla escaped from the Philippines after the February 27, 2004 ferry bombing, but he was arrested in Bahrain after a security check on his background by the embassy.
Manila blamed the three groups for the spate of bombings in Manila and in Mindanao in southern Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner)
2 comments:
Re: after a security check on his background by the embassy.
Does this mean that the embassy (RP I presume) itself initiated the investigation or security check on Lavilla? How was that possible -- is there a member of the embassy staff or Phil natl police now detailed with Bahrain immigration?
If so, this is a good move.
Philippine embassies have a roster of Filipino terrorists. Lavilla, I supposed is also list of the Interpol.
Whew...the long arm of the law...
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