Philippine court hands down terror convictions
source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090123/ap_on_re_as/as_philippines_terror_convictions
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MANILA, Philippines – Three men, including one of the Philippines' top terror suspects, were sentenced to life in prison Friday for the 2000 Manila bombing that killed 11 people in an attack that revealed close coordination among militants across the region.
The five near-simultaneous bombings on Dec. 30, 2000 left a total of 22 dead and about 100 wounded, but the court found the three men guilty of only the main attack on a train station.
The ringleader, Saiffulah "Moklis" Yunos, was described by prosecutors as an explosives expert and self-confessed member of the main Muslim separatist group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. The two others convicted and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole were Abdul Patak Paute and Mamasakul Naga.
The judge said he rejected their denials and alibis because they were positively identified by witnesses.
The Philippine and U.S. governments accused Yunos of carrying out the bombings on behalf of the regional terror group Jemaah Islamiyah.
Officials said he worked closely with Indonesian Fathur Roman Al-Ghozi, a demolition expert who bolted from a Manila jail in July 2003 and was killed in a shootout with police three months later in the southern Philippines, a militant hide-out and training ground.
Prosecutors said Al-Ghozi and Yunos had confessed to buying about 155 pounds (70 kilograms) of explosives used to bomb the targets. Yunos prepared the bombs' wiring while Al-Ghozi admitted preparing the switch on the alarm-clock triggers and packing the explosives, they said.
It was the deadliest terrorist attack until the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf group bombed a ferry in Manila Bay in 2004, killing 116 people.
The five near-simultaneous bombings on Dec. 30, 2000 left a total of 22 dead and about 100 wounded, but the court found the three men guilty of only the main attack on a train station.
The ringleader, Saiffulah "Moklis" Yunos, was described by prosecutors as an explosives expert and self-confessed member of the main Muslim separatist group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. The two others convicted and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole were Abdul Patak Paute and Mamasakul Naga.
The judge said he rejected their denials and alibis because they were positively identified by witnesses.
The Philippine and U.S. governments accused Yunos of carrying out the bombings on behalf of the regional terror group Jemaah Islamiyah.
Officials said he worked closely with Indonesian Fathur Roman Al-Ghozi, a demolition expert who bolted from a Manila jail in July 2003 and was killed in a shootout with police three months later in the southern Philippines, a militant hide-out and training ground.
Prosecutors said Al-Ghozi and Yunos had confessed to buying about 155 pounds (70 kilograms) of explosives used to bomb the targets. Yunos prepared the bombs' wiring while Al-Ghozi admitted preparing the switch on the alarm-clock triggers and packing the explosives, they said.
It was the deadliest terrorist attack until the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf group bombed a ferry in Manila Bay in 2004, killing 116 people.
