US embassy cable - 05MANILA1507

C O N F I D E N T I A L MANILA 001507 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/PMBS, DS/IP/EAP, INR/EAP, 
DS/DSS/ITA-TCREHAN 
NSC FOR GREEN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/01/2015 
TAGS: PTER, PREL, ASEC, PINS, UP, MY, RP 
SUBJECT: CAPTURE OF ARAB TERRORIST 
 
Classified By: Political Officer Daniel Ricci 
for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
1.  (U) In a March 31 press conference at Edwin Andrews Air 
Base in the southern Mindanao city of Zamboanga, Philippine 
security officials presented to President Gloria Macapagal 
Arroyo (PGMA) and the media a captured terrorist suspect, 
Kuwait-born Fawaz Zaki Ajjur, who had traveled on a 
Palestinian passport.  GRP officials said that he had trained 
Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) members in 2000 and had returned to 
the Philippines to coordinate further terror attacks. 
President Arroyo congratulated officials for the arrest, 
commenting "this is an important blow against terrorism." 
 
2.  (U)  GRP Immigration officials had initially arrested 
Ajjur on March 26 after his arrival without an entry visa at 
the Zamboanga airport on a South Phoenix Airways flight from 
Sandakan, Malaysia.  GRP Immigration had intended to deport 
him back to Malaysia immediately as per standard operating 
procedures, but had to wait for the next scheduled flight to 
leave a few days later.  The Bureau of Immigration then 
decided to do a background check on Ajjur in coordination 
with Philippine National Police (PNP) Western Mindanao 
director Police Chief, Director Vidal Querol.   Querol 
discovered that Ajjur had previously entered the Philippines, 
also through Mindanao, sometime in the 1980s.   His recent 
travel patterns aroused GRP suspicion due his flight from 
Kiev, Ukraine to Thailand, followed by a train to Malaysia, 
where he shuttled between two regions in Malaysia before 
boarding a plane to Zamboanga. 
 
3.  (C) According to Senior State Prosecutor Leo Dacera, two 
captured ASG members who are cooperating with the GRP,s 
Witness Protection Program have positively identified Ajjur 
as one of the foreign militants who had trained them in 
bombmaking near Patikul town on the island of Jolo in the 
Sulu Archipelago in 2000.  As conspiracy to commit terrorism 
is not a crime under Philippine law, Dacera said that Ajjur 
will instead be charged with kidnapping charges related to 
the 2000 kidnapping of Western tourists from the Malaysian 
dive resort of Sipadan Island.  Dacera explained that, in 
addition to teaching bombmaking, Ajjur had pulled guard duty 
watching the Sipadan hostages held in Jolo.  Dacera added 
that there are no plans at this time to invite the kidnapped 
foreigners back to the Philippines to testify in Ajjur,s 
case, which he predicted will be concluded within a year. 
 
4.  (SBU) Comment: While the GRP demonstrated more luck than 
skill in this case, this arrest again highlights the need for 
a tougher and more comprehensive Anti-Terrorism law and the 
streamlining of the criminal court system to provide for 
continuous contiguous trials for high-value terrorist 
suspects.  Embassy is working closely with both 
Administration and Congressional figures interested in 
pushing this legislation and new court proceedures, 
particularly in the wake of the Valentine's Day bombings and 
the March 23 seizure of explosives intended for car bombings 
in Metro Manila during Holy Week. 
 
Visit Embassy Manila's Classified SIPRNET website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eap/manila/index. cfm 
 
You can also access this site through the State Department's 
Classified SIPRNET website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/ 
Mussomeli