Suspected al-Qaeda member arrested by Philippines
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CAPTURED EXPLOSIVES: Teodosio showing an anti-personnel high explosive device to the press in Zamboanga on Wednesday. - Reuterspic |
The man, Hassan al-Bakre, 55, was detained by teams of immigration and security officials on suspicion of providing funds to Muslim rebels, said Major-General Emmanuel Teodosio.
“He is a suspected member of al-Qaeda,” Teodosio told reporters in the southern port city of Zamboanga. “We will provide you with more details about the arrest after Hassan's initial debriefing is completed.”
Another security officer said Hassan was believed to be a Saudi Arabian but authorities were still trying to confirm his nationality.
A spokesman for a Philippine Muslim rebel group said Hassan was an Egyptian and he had no connection with them or any other militants.
Hassan is the fifth foreign Muslim missionary arrested recently on suspicion of links to al-Qaeda or its South-East Asian wing, Jemaah Islamiah.
Teodosio said Hassan, who was placed under surveillance a month ago, was arrested on Tuesday in a village known as a stronghold of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Muslim separatist rebels.
The military said Hassan had made trips to Camp Omar, a rebel enclave in the Mindanao region, three months ago where he taught Arabic, Islamic studies and bomb-making.
“Based on his own accounts, more than 500 students completed the courses he had supervised,” a senior navy official, who declined to be identified, told reporters.
He said Hassan had identified five Egyptian and seven Indonesian instructors at the MILF camp.
But a rebel spokesman said Hassan was a fisherman who had lived in the area for a long time and was married to a Philippine Muslim woman.
“We have nothing to do with him,” said the spokesman, Eid Kabalu. “He's not even a missionary.”
“He's not a terrorist,” said Eid. “He's a simple-living man. People there know him to be a fisherman, not a bomb-maker.”
Four Turkish missionaries at a state-funded Islamic school in Cotabato City in Mindanao were arrested two months ago.
Teodosio also said authorities were investigating to see if Hassan had any links with the Abu Sayyaf Muslim militant group. – Reuters
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