Member of terror group Hamas arrested in AC
AN IRAQI national who has allegedly confessed to being a consultant to Palestinian terrorist group Hamas was arrested Sunday, January 21, in Angeles City, Pampanga for having an expired visa.
Deportation proceedings are being undertaken for Taja Mohammad Al-Jabori, said Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Ronald dela Rosa. Al-Jabori was presented to the media at Camp Crame on Monday, January 22.
Dela Rosa said AlJabori confessed to being a chemist and a rocket and explosives expert working for Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement or Hamas, a militant Islamist group that has been waging war on Israel.
“Right now, we haven’t established yet the threat that he posed to the Philippines but considering the time of his entry into the Philippines at the height of the Marawi siege and Asean was ongoing so that raised the alarm by the Iraqi Embassy to alert Philippine security forces,” he said.
The police chief sai d Al-Jabori claimed that he didn’t have any plan to launch a terror attack in the Philippines, but was here to meet with a group of ChineseFilipino businessmen.
“I don’t know if he is lying. His contact here might have perished in Marawi. As of now, we have established that he is here for business purposes,” Dela Rosa added.
Police said they had difficulty communicating with the Iraqi national because he claimed to know only a few words in English. No interpreter could be hired on a Sunday, when the suspect was arrested.
Al-Jabori was arrested based on an alert issued by the Iraqi Embassy.
“Ang sabi ng Iraqi Em bassy na nakapasok daw sa Philippines a certain Taja Mohammad Al Jabori at pagpasok hindi na makita, nawala na and worried ang Iraqi Embassy dahil kilala sya. Alam nila na member ito ng Hamas,” Dela Rosa said.
Police have been monitoring more than 10 suspected foreign terrorists who have arrived in the country. Some, however, may have been among those killed in Marawi, Dela Rosa added.
A five-month armed conflict in Marawi, which erupted after Maute terrorists went on a rampage while security forces were hunting down Isnilon Hapilon, ended only last October 2017. (Third Anne PeraltaMalonzo/ SunStar Philippines)