Manila police charge three terror suspects under new law

Manila: Philippines police charged three bombing suspects with terrorism, a prosecutor said yesterday - the first time authorities have relied on a new law that mandates excessive fines for improper detention.

Three members of the Al Khobar group were charged with violating the Human Security Act for their alleged involvement in a bombing that injured seven people last May in Midsayap township in southern Northern Cotabato province, state prosecutor Al Calica said.

Al Khobar is a known extortion gang. It is not specifically linked to any militant group in the volatile southern Philippines, which has been riven by a Muslim separatist rebellion for decades.

The three suspects remain at large and will be hunted down once the court in Midsayap issues arrest warrants, Calica said. Justice Undersecretary Ricardo Blancaflor said the case would serve as a test case for the anti-terror law.

President Gloria Arroyo, a key backer of the US-led global war on terrorism, signed the law in July 2007 to bolster the campaign against Al Qaida-linked militants, particularly in the south.

The law defines terrorism as any of at least 12 violent crimes, including rebellion, bombings, murder and kidnappings for ransom, that cause widespread fear and are designed to force the government to give in to an unlawful demand.

The Midsayap bombing stirred public fear and anger. The militants demanded a monthly payment of 100,000 pesos (Dh7,346.00) from the local government to spare the town from bombings - two elements police should prove before they can declare a crime an act of terrorism, Calica said.

Many law enforcers have been wary of trying for convictions under the anti-terror law because of a 500,000 peso fine that can be imposed on individual officers for each day of wrongful detention, Calica said.

The fine is intended as a safeguard against police abuses.

Stalled talks

Malaysia will withdraw all its peacekeepers from the southern Philippines this month, the foreign minister said yesterday, signalling frustration with stalled talks between Manila and Muslim rebels.

Malaysia began withdrawing 40 ceasefire monitors from violence-scarred Mindanao island in April because of a lack of progress in peace negotiations between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

Manila suspended the talks altogether in August after three guerrilla commanders went on a bloody rampage, killing dozens in predominantly Christian communities.

The 12 Malaysians still working with the ceasefire monitoring team will pull out when the current peacekeeping mandate ends November 30, Foreign Minister Rais Yatim said in a statement. The team also includes military and nonmilitary personnel from Brunei, Libya and Japan. "Malaysia is prepared to consider its future participation ... when there is progress in the peace process," by both sides, Rais said.