Escape of Terrorist from Philippine Jail Stirs Foreign Disappointment

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, July 17, 2003

Escape of Terrorist from Philippine Jail Stirs Foreign Disappointment

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The escape of a convicted Indonesian bomb-maker and two members of kidnap-for-ransom group Abu Sayyaf from a Philippine police jail on Monday has stirred disappointment of foreign governments and media.

"We expressed our disappointment at the escape ... because we think it heightens the risk for all of us in the Philippines," US embassy spokesman Frank Jenista said here Wednesday.

Jenista said, "The escape of these three is clearly a setback in the international war against terror," and the embassy asked for the results of any investigation in the jailbreak. "If it turns out that some people were derelict in their duties, then we would hope to see that there would be appropriate application of sanctions," the spokesman said.

Meanwhile, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer described the escape as "disappointing" and said any underestimation of the threat of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) in the region had been quashed by the escape of one of its key operatives.

The successful arrests and the on-going trial of those suspected of last October's Bali bombings in Indonesia which claimed more than 200 lives may have overshadowed how large a problem JI is in the rest of the region, local media quoted Downeras saying.

"I don't think we should underestimate for a minute how difficult this battle against terrorism in Southeast Asia is," he said.

Australian national newspaper Sydney Morning Herald also described the escape as "a deadly farce" and said in an editorial the failure of the Philippines security services had "set the fight against terrorism back years."

Australian Prime Minister John Howard, who has just concluded his two-day visit in Manila, said Tuesday the escape of the three was a "serious setback" in the global campaign against terrorism, which underlines the need for countries fighting against terrorism,like the Philippines and Australia, to be vigilant and to strengthen the institutional capacity to deal effectively with terrorism.

The escape occurred while Howard was in Manila meeting Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for talks on counter-terrorism measures and to promise aid to the fight.

Arroyo, who had declared bounties totaling 8 million pesos (150,000 US dollars) to anyone who can help to bring the three behind bars again, on Wednesday ordered the creation of an independent fact-finding commission to get to the bottom of the escape as Indonesia and Malaysia joined the Philippines in "the biggest manhunt in the country."

Al-Ghozi, a self-confessed Indonesian bomb-maker of the JI network blamed for the Bali bombings, was sentenced to 12 years ina Philippine prison last year for possession of explosives.

He later admitted to helping organize bomb attacks with JI leaders, on a Manila railway station and several key installationsin December 2000 that killed 22 and wounded nearly 100 others.

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