Indonesian implicated in Manila bombings

One of the three Indonesians held last March at Manila's Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) for alleged possession of explosives has been named by an arrested colleague in Singapore as the brains behind the December 30, 2000, bombings in Manila and an assassination attempt on a Filipino diplomat in Jakarta November of the same year.

Undersecretary Jose Colida of the Department of Justice said that they "received a reliable report" from their contacts in Singapore that Agus Dwikarna had something to do with the bombings that resulted in the death of 22 people and the wounding of many others.

"We received information that he was a participant in the planning of the LRT (Light Rail Transit) bombing and the bombing of the residence of Philippine Ambassador to Indonesia, Leonides Coday. We are following up this lead," he stated.

Colida said the information was provided by a witness who was among the 13 men arrested by authorities in Singapore last December, on suspicion that they were planning to bomb U.S. targets in south-east Asia.

Dwikarna's colleagues - Abdul Jamal Balfas and Tamsit Limrung - were ordered released by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo after the intervention of Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri.

Calido added that Dwikarna, a civil engineer, belongs to the Majlis Mujahideen Indonesian, a group which is allied with the Jumaah Islamiya, an underground group affiliated with Osama bin Laden's Al Qaida network.

"We also learned that this MMI wants to build parts of Mindanao as their training base," he warned.

"We want to nail him (Dwikarna) down on the December 30 bombings, because that's arson and murder and he can't apply for bail," he stressed.

"If we have the proof (that he was involved in the December 30 bombings), then we will file the charges," said Calida.