Saying she condones no terrorist, Amina Rasul said the Arroyo government has been coming up with their supposed accomplishment in the fight against terrorism at the expense of innocent Muslim men.

“If they cannot prove in court that these men are terrorists, as they are not, we would hail them to court,” Rasul told IslamOnline.net Thursday as she vowed to extend legal assistance to the arrested men.

The recent series of abduction and then presentation of the supposed terrorists by the Arroyo administration are all aimed at gaining media mileage to boost Arroyo’s candidacy to retain her seat as president, she added.

Muslim leader Amirah Ali Lidasan of the Suara Bangsamoro political party echoed Rasul. She said the two newly arrested Muslim men presented to the public as Abu Sayyaf members, who were allegedly out to bomb Metro Manila ala-Madrid style, are “innocent”.

“This is false. The truth is that Mr. Abdulwali Villanueva and Mr. Habil Dellosa have been reported missing since Sunday by their families to our group. On Sunday evening, members of the Balik-Islam Unity Congress have reported to our group Balik-Islam (Muslim reverts) brothers who have been missing. On Monday, our group met the wife of Mr. Abdulwali Villanueva who reported to us the abduction of her husband, as witnessed by their driver.”

She said Villanueva was abducted on Sunday, March 28, at SM Fairview. Villanueva’s wife Hana told Lidasan that the shopping mall’s security guards related to her the incident. “It was the guards who told Hana that her husband was taken by NAKTF [National Anti-Kidnapping Task Force].”

Hana was able to see her husband on Tuesday, March 30. She was called by the arresting officers who then told her to see him at the Foreign Intelligence and Liaison Office at Camp Crame.

Lidasan said Hana almost lost her control when she saw her husband’s condition. He bore a hematoma on his right eye. “Hana could only shed a tear and kept on asking her husband if the people surrounding her husband are the ones who did this to him.”

“Abdulwali then related to Hana how he was forcibly taken by the police officers and how he was beaten and tortured so that he will sign a paper stating that he was in possession of explosives. Hana asked how he can carry a bag full of deadly explosives when he went inside the SM mall,” where strict security searches are practiced.

Hana was surprised to see on television that her husband, a businessman engaged in buying and selling of goods, was presented by President Arroyo on March 31 as the fifth Abu Sayyaf bomber arrested by the Philippine National Police. On Thursday, he was charged with illegal possession of explosives.

“We are going to fight this out legally,” Hana told IslamOnline.net on Thursday. She said her husband is not a terrorist or a member of the Abu Sayyaf, a group declared as a terrorist organization by the government.

She added they would file charges for the torture of her husband, his illegal arrest and illegal detention. “My husband is not a terrorist. He has not done anything wrong.”

Lidasan said they believe that this is already the effect borne by the “malicious statements made by National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales accusing the Balik-Islam Movement, or the ranks of Islamic Converts, as terrorists”.

Condemning Gonzales, Lidasan said, “This is alarming, considering that the accusation comes from the intelligence chief.”

Just like the identification system, she said, it sets a precedent among police and military officials to have a leeway in zoning and raiding Islamic converts' centers, mosques and madrasahs just like what happened last March 27 at the Fi Sabilillah foundation in Cubao, Quezon City.

She pointed out that “it is very sad to note” that President Arroyo “hypes the anti-terror campaign in her bid to get the attention for her sure bid in the May 10 polls.”

“The lives and freedom of our Muslim brethren are at stake. Nowadays, there is a pervading feeling of insecurity among our Muslim brothers and sisters - we are not safe from the Arroyo administration,” Lidasan told IslamOnline.net.

“This makes more legal our campaign to the Muslims not to vote for President Arroyo in the coming election because another term with her will mean more incidents of violations on the civil liberties of the Muslim people,” she added.

Gen. Ismael Rafanan, head of the PNP Intelligence Group, announced on Tuesday the arrest of Alhambser Manatad Limbong. He said Limbong beheaded American hostage Guillermo Sobero and took part in the killing of a U.S. serviceman during Balikatan exercise in Zamboanga City.