Fathur Rahman al-Ghozi

Arrest

Al-Ghozi was arrested in the Philippines on 15 January 2002, three hours before he was to board a plane from Manila to Bangkok for an arranged meeting with Riduan Isamuddin and other al-Qaeda and JI operatives. He pleaded guilty to charges of possession of illegal explosives in April 2002, and was sentenced to 17 years in jail. While in custody, he gave information that led investigators to a cache of more than a ton of explosives, 300 detonators and other bomb-making materials in the Southern Philippines. These items were recovered from a house rented by al-Ghozi in General Santos in Mindanao. Al-Ghozi confessed that he had provided the explosives used in the Rizal Day bombings, and had been planning to use the remaining explosives for the embassies attacks in Singapore.

Escape and death

On 14 July 2003, al-Ghozi managed to escape from a high security facility inside Camp Crame, together with two other terrorist suspects belonging to the Abu Sayyaf group. The breakout led to a nationwide hunt for the fugitives in the Philippines. The government posted a reward of 10 million pesos for information on his whereabouts. According to reports, the authorities received a tip that al-Ghozi was travelling near Pigkawayan. A military checkpoint was set up, but the jeep transporting al-Ghozi rammed through the roadblock and a gun battle ensued. Soldiers shot al-Ghozi while he was attempting to detonate a hand grenade; he died on the way to a nearby clinic.