3 ex-Sulu execs tagged as brains in Zambo blast

(Updated 10:48 pm) Police in Zamboanga have tagged at least three former Sulu officials as the “masterminds" in a deadly explosion at the Zamboanga International Airport last month. Former Sulu Rep. Munir Arbison, former Maimbung mayor Najib Maldiza, and former Pangutaran mayor Ahmad Nanoh have been identified by at least four witnesses as the primary persons behind the bombing, Zamboanga Peninsula regional police head Chief Superintendent Edwin Corvera said Saturday. Senior Superintendent Edwin Diocos, regional chief of the Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG), meanwhile said that the three politicians “conspired" to kill Sulu Governor Abdusakur Tan before the blast. “Based on the testimonies of witnesses... they were among who conspired with each other (to kill Tan) in a certain place here in Zamboanga City and somewhere in Manila," Diocos told reporters in a separate interview on Saturday. Tan was among over two dozen people wounded in the August 5 Zamboanga airport blast. The bomber, Reynaldo Apilado, and Hatimil Haron, one of his cohorts, were killed in the incident. Police earlier said that the blast was related to a failed assassination attempt on Tan last year. The three politicians also supposedly had a hand in this plot, according to the police. (See: PNP chief tags 2 Sulu gov rivals in Zambo blast) Arbison denies involvement Arbison however denied all accusations against him, saying he had no involvement in the blast or the supposed attempt to kill Tan. “We will answer all the accusations. I know my conscience is clean," he said in an interview aired over a local television station. Arbison was a candidate for Sulu governor during the past elections, but was defeated by Tan. Aside from Arbison and the two former mayors, at least three more men – Allan Sabudin, Muamar Astali and Adong Salahuddin – were also implicated in the attack, according to Diocos. The three men were linked to the bombing after they were seen in a hotel security video in Zamboanga City together with Apilado and Haron before the bombing. The three men remain at large.— With Al Jacinto, LBG/ACC/JV, GMANews.TV