Philippines arrest rebel leader linked to massacre

MANILA: The Philippines arrested a Muslim rebel commander suspected of training international terrorists, the military said today.
Mohammad Ali Tambako was arrested Sunday on charges relating to a 2013 attack on a Christian community, but was also suspected of aiding one of the terrorists targeted in a January police operation that left 44 officers dead.
"Having been exposed to foreign terror networks in the Middle East, Tambako had established a network of contacts among the notorious Islamic fundamentalists around the world," Lieutenant Colonel Harold Cabunoc said.
One of Tambako's reported proteges was alleged bomb maker Basit Usman.
Special police launched an operation on Jan 15 against Usman and Malaysian terrorist suspect Zulkifli Hir. Usman got away, while Zulkifli was thought killed, but this has yet to be confirmed by DNA analysis.
But the security forces were then ambushed by Islamist rebels, losing 44 troops and prompting a high-profile probe into the operation.
Tambako was also "believed to be coddling five foreign nationals who were trained in bomb-making and other terrorist activities," including suspected operatives of regional terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah, Cabunoc said.
He was seized along with five companions in General Santos City, 1,050km south of Manila, on charges of beheading a farmer during the 2013 attack in Midsayap town in North Cotabato province.
Tambako was a former vice chairman of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, a breakaway faction of the largest Muslim rebel group that signed a peace agreement with the Philippine government last year.
He was expelled for the 2013 attack and later founded a militant group called the Justice Islamic Movement. – dpa