Replies

Manila Arrests Two Americans, Probes Al Qaeda Link

MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippines has arrested and interrogated two American brothers, one of whom is on a U.S. watch list for active links to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network, intelligence and immigration officials said on Monday.

Michael Ray Stubbs and his brother James, a Muslim convert, were expected to be paraded before the media on Tuesday, 10 days after their arrest in Tanza town, south of the capital Manila.

Immigration officials said the brothers faced charges of violating the country's immigration act and would be subject to deportation proceedings.

They said the brothers were questioned to find out the extent of their involvement with al Qaeda, which Washington blames for the attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001.

Both Americans are of Middle Eastern descent and married to Filipinos, one intelligence official told Reuters, adding that James Stubbs also uses a Muslim name, Jamil Daud Mujahid. He is on the U.S. watch list.

Intelligence sources said Michael Ray Stubbs works in a state-run, high-security nuclear and biological research facility in the United States.

"These guys had slipped through the tight U.S. watch list but we were lucky to get them here," a senior naval intelligence official told Reuters. "The Americans were completely taken by surprise when informed about the arrest of these two men."

He said the brothers were looking to buy property and had met regularly in the Philippines for the past several years.

The Philippines, which is battling several homegrown Muslim and communist rebel groups, has also suffered deadly attacks by militants linked to al Qaeda.

A series of bombings in Manila on December 30, 2000, killed 22 people and wounded hundreds. The attacks were blamed on Jemaah Islamiah, a Southeast Asian group affiliated with al Qaeda.

Philippine security forces went on heightened watch a week ago after Washington raised its alert level over what it said were high risks of attacks on U.S. targets around the world.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3829510/

2 U.S. brothers held in Philippines

One is on U.S. terrorism watchlist

Updated: 8:29 a.m. ET Dec. 29, 2003

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines has arrested and interrogated two American brothers, one of whom is on a U.S. watchlist for active links to Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida network, intelligence and immigration officials said on Monday.
Michael Ray Stubbs and his brother James, a Muslim convert, were expected to be paraded before the media on Tuesday, 10 days after their arrest in Tanza, a town south of the capital Manila.
Immigration officials said the brothers faced charges of violating the country’s immigration act and would be subject to deportation proceedings.
They said the brothers were questioned to find out the extent of their involvement with al-Qaida, which Washington blames for the attacks on the United States on Sept. 11, 2001.
Both Americans are of Middle Eastern descent and married to Filipinos, one intelligence official told Reuters, adding that James Stubbs also uses a Muslim name, Jamil Daud Mujahid. He is on the U.S. watchlist.
Intelligence sources said Michael Ray Stubbs works in a state-run, high-security nuclear and biological research facility in the United States.
“These guys had slipped through the tight U.S. watchlist but we were lucky to get them here,” a senior naval intelligence official told Reuters. “The Americans were completely taken by surprise when informed about the arrest of these two men.”
He said the brothers were looking to buy property and had met regularly in the Philippines for the past several years.
The Philippines, which is battling several homegrown Muslim and communist rebel groups, has also suffered deadly attacks by militants linked to al-Qaida.
A series of bombings in Manila on December 30, 2000, killed 22 people and wounded hundreds. The attacks were blamed on Jemaah Islamiah, a Southeast Asian group affiliated with al-Qaida.
Philippine security forces went on heightened watch a week ago after Washington raised its alert level over what it said were high risks of attacks on U.S. targets around the world.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters.

Two suspected members
of terror network nabbed
Posted: 10:37 AM (Manila Time) | Dec. 23, 2003
Inquirer News Service
GOVERNMENT agents arrested two suspected members of the regional terror network Jemaah Islamiyah recently, the Bureau of Immigration said Monday.

The bureau's intelligence chief, Faisal Hussein, identified the suspects as James Stubbs Jr., who is also known as Jamil Daoud Mujahid, and his brother Michael Ray Stubbs.

Sketchy reports said the two were arrested by a group of immigration and naval intelligence agents in an operation in the town of Tanza in Cavite province, outside Manila, last Dec. 13. They were brought to the Bicutan area of Metro Manila for tactical interrogation.

Hussein told reporters that the suspects, both Jordanians, said they were businessmen and denied any link to the Jemaah Islamiyah.

The Philippine military has launched a manhunt for 31 Jemaah Islamiyah operatives believed to be in the southern island of Mindanao, where they are believed to be maintaining facilities to train recruits in bomb-making and other terrorist tactics.

The Jemaah Islamiyah has been blamed for a string of terrorist strikes in Southeast, Asia including the Oct. 12, 2002, bombings in Bali, Indonesia, that killed 202 people and the attack on the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Jakarta in August, in which 12 people died.

The Jemaah Islamiyah, which envisions a Pan-Islamic state in Southeast Asia, is believed to have links to the al-Qaeda terror group of Osama bin-Laden.
http://www.inq7.net/brk/2003/dec/23/brkpol_8-1.htm

U.S. Brothers Arrested in Philippines

By HRVOJE HRANJSKI, Associated Press Writer

MANILA, Philippines - Authorities were set to deport two American brothers who were arrested for suspected links to terrorism, immigration officials said Tuesday.

Michael Ray Stubbs, 55, and his brother James Stubbs, 56, a convert to Islam, were arrested as the government warned earlier this month that Indonesian members of the Southeast Asian terror group Jemaah Islamiyah have been training Filipino rebels in bomb-making and other tactics in the south of the country.

They were detained on immigration violation charges earlier this month in the town of Tanza in Cavite province, some 20 miles southwest of Manila, the Bureau of Immigration said Tuesday.

The statement said the brothers would be deported to the United States as "undesirable aliens ... based on intelligence reports that they were seen meeting with known leaders of various terrorist cells in the country with links to al-Qaida."

Officials said that the two were of Middle East descent and born in Missouri. They did not know where or have current information on hometowns.

James Stubbs is also known as Jamil Daoud Mujahid, according to U.S. State Department spokesman Adam Ereli, who said authorities in the Philippines notified American officials two days after the men were arrested on immigration charges on Dec. 13.

Consular officials from the U.S. Embassy met with both men on Dec. 17, Ereli said.

According to military intelligence reports, Mujahid allegedly met in May with several charity groups suspected of being al-Qaida fronts. More information on the men was expected to be released Tuesday.

Jemaah Islamiyah, which has links to al-Qaida, is suspected of several terror attacks, including last year's Bali bombings that killed 202 people.

Philippine authorities say the group was involved in a series of December 2000 bombings that killed 22 people and injured more than 100 in the capital, Manila.