Filipino Charged With Plotting Terror Attacks in Singapore

MANILA, Philippines – A Philippine man police say provided the explosives for a plan to attack U.S., British, Australian and Israeli targets in Singapore has been arrested, the army said Tuesday.

Officials said Hussain Ramos, 35, was helping members of Jemaah Islamiyah, an Islamic extremist group that authorities say is linked to Al Qaeda. He was arrested Monday in Marawi, in the southern Philippines, an army statement said.

Officials say Jemaah Islamiyah allegedly planned to attack U.S. military personnel and naval vessels as well as the British High Commission, the Israeli Embassy and the Australian High Commission in Singapore.

The statement said Ramos was implicated by Fathur Rohman Al-Ghozi, an Indonesian who told police he helped plan a series of almost simultaneous bombings that killed 22 people in Manila in 2000. He has been in custody since January.

Al-Ghozi pleaded guilty in April to explosives possession after leading Philippine police earlier this year to a ton of TNT that officials say was to be used for terrorist attacks in Singapore. The army statement said the explosives had been provided by Ramos, also known as Ali Ramos and Abu Ali.

During interrogation, Ramos "admitted his participation in the procurement of boxes of explosives sometime during the recent Ramadan (Nov. 15 -Dec. 17) to be transported to Singapore," the statement said.

Al-Ghozi, sentenced to 10 to 12 years on the explosives charge, is believed to be a leader of the Jemaah Islamiyah.

He also pleaded guilty to fraudulently obtaining two Philippine passports after the Manila bombings. He has not been charged for those attacks, but officials said he could face multiple counts of murder.

Al-Ghozi, 31, provided information that led to more than a ton of TNT buried in a backyard in General Santos, about 625 miles southeast of Manila, police said. Also found were 300 detonators, six 436-yard rolls of detonating cord and 17 M-16 assault rifles.