By Xinhua,
Manila : A suspected terrorist who masterminded the passenger ferry blast that killed over 100 people south of Manila Bay four years ago was deported from Bahrain to the Philippine on Saturday, local media reported.
The Philippine National Police officials told local news network ABS-CBN News that Ruben Omar Pestano Lavilla Jr., a listed terrorist of U.S. State Department, was arrested in Bahrain last July and the Bahrain government had decided to send him back to the Philippines.
Lavilla is the spiritual and the supposed founder of local terror group Rajah Sulaiman Movement, a group of Christian reverts or converts which authorities said has links with the Abu Sayyaf group and Jemaah Islamiyah.
Police said Lavilla is included in the sanctioned list of the United Nation’s Security Council. He is facing charges of rebellion and murder before a local court.
Dubbed as the deadliest terrorist attack at sea, the explosion of Superferry 14, with 899 people on board, killed more than 100 passengers on Feb. 27. The authorities blamed local extremist group Abu Sayyaf for the blast and launched intensified offensives against the 370-member group.