Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas F. Ople today formally requested the United States Government for access to Asia's most-wanted terrorist suspect, Hambali, whose real name is Riduan Isamuddin. Hambali was taken into custody in a combined operation involving U.S. intelligence agents and Thai police. Hambali is the number 2 leader of Jema'ah Islamiyah and is a major suspect in terrorist attacks in Southeast Asia, including the December 2000 Light Rail Transit (LRT) bombing in Manila that killed 22 people and the bombing of a JW Marriot hotel in Jakarta August 5 which killed a dozen people.

“I sent a diplomatic note to the US Embassy today.  In that note, I said that Pursuant to the Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the Government of the Untied States of America, the Department would like to request that Philippine authorities be allowed access to Riduan Isamuddin and be given any information that the authorities of the Government of the United States of America has as a result of its custody of Riduan Isamuddin that might be relevant to the efforts of the Philippine Government in fighting terrorism in the Philippines,” the Secretary said.

Asked if the Philippines would be asking for custody of Hambali, the Secretary said that he stated in his diplomatic note that the request for access to Hambali is without prejudice a possible future request from the Philippines based on the Extradition Treaty between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the Government of the United States of America.

On the issue of whether the Philippines will ask for Hambali to face criminal justice in the Philippines, the Secretary had earlier said “Hambali has been indicted in the December 2000 Light Rail Transit (LRT) bombing in Manila that killed 22 people. At the same time, he is facing other similar charges in other countries.  In matters like this, primary jurisdiction is often determined by who has actual possession of the suspect.  Of course we are interested in subjecting him to Philippine justice, but we will wait our turn, if necessary.”

At this point, the Secretary said that the Philippines and other countries should have the opportunity to mine the wealth of information that Hambali might be able to provide.

He added that even before his formal request, there have already been existing arrangements with the international security and intelligence community for information sharing. “I formalized this request in order to ensure that these arrangements are fully utilized and to base our cooperation on clear legal and treaty commitments, which, in the end, would be a prerequisite in order for our criminal cases to pass judicial scrutiny," the Secretary said.