5 Bomb Suspects Nabbed In Philippines
Five alleged members of the Muslim militant group Abu Sayyaf, arrested as suspects in a deadly series of bombings in the southern Philippines, "were virtually caught in the act" of preparing for another attack, the president said Wednesday.
Officials said the men admitted taking part in the bombings of two department stores last Thursday in downtown Zamboanga that killed seven people and injured 152 others and a blast at a Roman Catholic shrine Sunday night that killed one and injured 18.
They were arrested late Tuesday at an apartment in Zamboanga and then flown to Manila, where they were presented to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
"Without being detailed, I think it is also important to reveal that they were virtually caught in the act of preparing for the next bombing," Arroyo said during the nationally televised ceremony.
Chief Supt. Simeon Dizon, regional police commander, said the arrested men told police that their colleagues were behind an Oct. 2 blast in Zamboanga that killed an American soldier and three Filipinos. Police follow-up operations are underway to hunt for them.
Chief Superintendent Eduardo Matillano, director of the Philippine National Police's Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, said the men were expected to face multiple charges including murder.
They claimed they were acting on orders by Abu Sulaiman, one of the Abu Sayyaf's leaders. Investigators have said the group is linked with the al Qaeda network.
"There was an admission on their part that they were responsible for the bombing," Matillano said, referring to the department store blasts and Sunday night's explosion at the shrine.
He said police were able to seize documents that were used for the assessment that the men were planning more attacks.
National police chief Hermogenes Ebdane said police have not established any foreign connection to the group so far.
Police confiscated from the men two .45 caliber handguns, a manual on making car bombs, a receipt for packages left at the bombed Shop-o-Rama department store and a receipt for the purchase of the bicycle believed used in shrine bombing.
Zamboanga officials said the apartment had been rented on Oct. 9 and that up to nine people had been seen there at nighttime meetings. Several cell phones and alarm clocks were recovered, along with plastic bottles filled with gasoline.
There has been speculation that a bomb in Manila last Friday may have been set off using a cell phone as a triggering device.
Other items confiscated as evidence included a crucifix and religious pamphlets that police said were used for the shrine bombing operation, a bicycle tool, a map of Zamboanga and unspecified white powder in plastic bags.
Philippine officials have linked the Abu Sayyaf to al Qaeda, citing alleged attempts by Osama bin Laden's lieutenants to provide the guerrillas with training on explosives and weapons handling in past years.
About 1,000 Americans spent six months in the southern Philippines earlier this year in counterterrorism exercises aimed at helping the Philippine military fight the Abu Sayyaf.