Police to file charges vs. supplier of explosives in Sulu

A fisherman in Sulu province in the southern Philippines paddles his boat off Jolo town. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)

SULU, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Apr. 11, 2009) – Sulu provincial governor Sakur Tan has ordered the police to file criminal charges against a man whose house yielded thousands of blasting caps and chemical fertilizer used in the manufacture of homemade explosives.

Policemen, backed by soldiers, raided the house of Hajji Nahrin Akmad in Jolo town on April 9 and seized more than 700 kilos of banned ammonium nitrate, 8,000 pieces of blasting caps, a pistol and 13 rolls of time fuse.

Authorities also seized some P80,000 in cash from Akmad’s house. Police said Akmad was able to escape even before security forces could arrive.

“Sulu Governor Sakur Tan has ordered us to immediately file charges against the house owner,” Senior Superintendent Julasirim Kasim, the Sulu provincial police chief, told the Mindanao Examiner.

Kasim said the military has taken custody of all those seized from Akmad’s house.

“It should be turned over to us. We need all those things so we can immediately file appropriate charges against Akmad,” he said.

Police said Akmad was believed to be supplying improvised explosives for illegal fishing and probably to the Abu Sayyaf.

The Abu Sayyaf is still holding two kidnapped Red Cross workers Swiss national Andreas Notter and Italian Eugenio Vagni in Sulu’s Indanan town and has threatened to behead the captives if Manila does not pull out security forces which have set a cordon around the terrorist group.

Another Red Cross hostage, Filipino Mary Jean Lacaba, was freed April 2 by the Abu Sayyaf allegedly in exchange for a huge ransom. But the Red Cross denied that ransom was paid for her safe release.

The trio was kidnapped on January 15 after inspecting a humanitarian project at a prison in Indanan town. A dismissed jail guard Raden Abu led the kidnapping and handed over the victims to the Abu Sayyaf days later after his name surfaced in police reports. Local media reports said the Abu Sayyaf demanded ransom between $5 million to $10 million. (Mindanao Examiner)