Aquino 'authorised bungled secret mission' where 44 police died
Philippine President Benigno Aquino approved a bungled secret mission against Islamist rebels that led to the deaths of 44 police commandos, an official report released yesterday said, piling more pressure on the beleaguered leader.
The Philippine National Police Board of Inquiry (BOI) report also found Aquino had authorised suspended police general Alan Purisima, a personal friend, to take part in the mission even as he was being investigated for corruption.
In January, police commandos sneaked into a rebel area in the south to capture Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan, an al-Qaeda-linked bomb maker with a US$5 million US bounty on his head. The commandos were ambushed by rebels and 44 were killed.
The results of the police inquiry came out days after Aquino said he was given wrong information about the secret mission, blaming the head of the Special Action Force (SAF) Getulio Napeñas for the botched mission.
The police report was based on sworn statements from about 300 witnesses, police and military officials. Aquino, Purisima and the armed forces chief of staff were not interviewed for the report.