Indonesian terror suspect admits planning deadly bombing

MANILA, Philippines -- An Indonesian man authorities suspect is a major figure in a militant group linked to al-Qaida said Wednesday that he was behind a bombing attack that killed 22 people in Manila 14 months ago.

Fathur Rohman Al-Ghozi, who was arrested in the Philippine capital last month, had said in a sworn statement that he obtained funds to finance the Dec. 30, 2000 attack -- five nearly simultaneous bomb blasts -- from a Malaysian-based leader of the extremist group Jemaah Islamiyah.

Questioned by prosecutors Wednesday, he said the bombings were his idea. "The truth is I planned the bombings," said Al-Ghozi, who was accompanied by a lawyer and an Indonesian Embassy official.

Not yet formally charged

He revised his sworn statement, repeating that he plotted the bombings along with local and foreign Muslim extremists but saying he suggested the attack as retaliation for a Philippine military offensive against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, a militant group in the southern Philippines.

Al-Ghozi, 31, has not been formally charged in the bomb attacks on a train, a bus, an abandoned gasoline station, an airport parking area and a park.

More than 120 people were injured.

In both affidavits, Al-Ghozi said he plotted the bombings with Hadji Onos, also known as Muklis, whom he identified as a Filipino belonging to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, as well as other Filipino Muslims, an Indonesian named Riduan Isamuddin and a man named Fais, based in Malaysia.

He said men loyal to Muklis carried out the bombings and claimed that during meetings with the other plotters, he suggested that no one should get hurt.

Al-Ghozi was arrested in Manila last month on a tip from Singapore police. Authorities believed he is a leader of Jemaah Islamiyah, a Southeast Asian-based group with suspected links to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network.

Authorities believe Jemaah Islamiyah maintains terrorist cells in Indonesia and Malaysia. Thirteen members were arrested late last year in Singapore, where the group allegedly was plotting attacks on U.S. naval and other facilities.

Police in Singapore said eight of the suspects were trained by al-Qaida in Afghanistan.

Police said Al-Ghozi provided information that led to three arrests and the discovery of explosives and assault rifles at a home in General Santos city in the southern Philippines. He has been charged for his alleged role in storing the weapons and with possessing fake passports.