Philippines arrests man with detonators on ferry
MANILA, Aug 17 (Reuters) - The Philippine military said on Thursday it arrested a man suspected of trying to smuggle 6,000 detonators from the southwestern island of Jolo, where troops are pursuing a group of Muslim rebels linked to al Qaeda.
"It is highly possible that the explosives would be used by the terrorists in their bombing attacks," Brigadier-General Alexander Aleo, the commander on Jolo, told reporters.
Aleo said the suspect and an unidentified female companion carried backpacks aboard a passenger ferry that was bound for the nearby island of Tawi-tawi, adding each bag held 30 boxes of Indian-made detonators. The woman eluded arrest.
The detonators were found when a Marine private, suspicious of the contents of the suspect's backpack, searched it and then alerted his companions to comb the ferry, Aleo said.
Last week, government officials said the military offensive on Jolo against rebels from the Abu Sayyaf group may have foiled a plan to launch bombings in the capital, Manila.
Hundreds of troops, backed by U.S. intelligence, have been searching the hilly jungles near Indanan town for Abu Sayyaf members believed to be hiding with two key suspects in the 2002 bombings on the Indonesian island of Bali.
Abu Sayyaf, the smallest of four Muslim rebel groups in the mainly Roman Catholic country, is blamed for a number of deadly attacks, including the bombing of a ferry near Manila in 2004 that killed more than 100 people.
Muslim separatists in the southern Philippines have been seeking greater independence since the 1960s in a conflict that has killed more than 120,000 people and stunted development of the resource-rich area.
"It is highly possible that the explosives would be used by the terrorists in their bombing attacks," Brigadier-General Alexander Aleo, the commander on Jolo, told reporters.
Aleo said the suspect and an unidentified female companion carried backpacks aboard a passenger ferry that was bound for the nearby island of Tawi-tawi, adding each bag held 30 boxes of Indian-made detonators. The woman eluded arrest.
The detonators were found when a Marine private, suspicious of the contents of the suspect's backpack, searched it and then alerted his companions to comb the ferry, Aleo said.
Last week, government officials said the military offensive on Jolo against rebels from the Abu Sayyaf group may have foiled a plan to launch bombings in the capital, Manila.
Hundreds of troops, backed by U.S. intelligence, have been searching the hilly jungles near Indanan town for Abu Sayyaf members believed to be hiding with two key suspects in the 2002 bombings on the Indonesian island of Bali.
Abu Sayyaf, the smallest of four Muslim rebel groups in the mainly Roman Catholic country, is blamed for a number of deadly attacks, including the bombing of a ferry near Manila in 2004 that killed more than 100 people.
Muslim separatists in the southern Philippines have been seeking greater independence since the 1960s in a conflict that has killed more than 120,000 people and stunted development of the resource-rich area.
posted by Marko at 8/17/2006 06:21:00 AM
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