MANILA (Reuters) - A bomb hidden in a food stall killed 15 people on
Wednesday near a wharf in the southern Philippine city of Davao, where 22
people died in an airport blast a month ago, police and hospital officials
said.
The explosion outside the ferry passenger terminal sprayed the area with
blood, shattered windows and blew a crater in the pavement underneath the
barbecue stand.
One victim was a young boy still clutching a toy. Some of the bodies were
covered by sheets of newspaper.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said she had ordered the military and
police to "take all appropriate measures," including checkpoints and
visibility patrols, against "these lawless elements and terrorists."
"In a state of lawless violence, I can empower the military to do this
crackdown," she said in a radio interview.
Arroyo, touring the region by boat to promote a new roll-on/roll-off ferry
to speed the flow of goods around this nation of islands, planned to go to
Davao on Thursday to meet investigators.
Security forces in the mainly Roman Catholic country are fighting four
rebel groups seeking an Islamic homeland in the south. They are also on
alert for reprisals over the U.S.-led war in Iraq because of Manila's close
ties with Washington.
Police at the scene of Wednesday's blast said there were 13 people dead and
53 wounded. But the Davao Medical Center issued a statement saying 15 had
been killed and 44 wounded.
A nun, four policemen and several vendors were among the dead, police said.
National Security Adviser Roilo Golez said it was too early to speculate
about who was responsible.
MILF MUSLIM REBELS DENY INVOLVEMENT
The ferry from Manila to Davao, 900 km (560 miles) south of the capital on
the restive island of Mindanao, had just docked and passengers were
disembarking as the bomb exploded near the terminal building further along
the wharf.
Radio reports said one boy had alerted vendors after seeing the bomb before
it went off but guards had largely ignored their frantic warnings. The
reports could not be independently confirmed.
Police quickly stepped up security at the airport and other locations in
Davao.
On March 4, the suspected bomber was killed along with an American
missionary and 20 other people in a blast at the airport as crowds
sheltered from a rainstorm.
Police have arrest warrants for 151 members of the Moro Islamic Liberation
Front (MILF), the largest Muslim rebel group with about 12,000 men, in
connection with last month's explosion.
The MILF said on Wednesday night it was not responsible for either the
airport bombing or that at the wharf.
"The MILF vehemently denies any involvement," the group's spokesman, Eid
Kabalu, told Reuters. "We are offering our goodwill assistance in the
investigation to manifest our desire to stamp out criminalities like this."
The government and the MILF are working to rekindle sporadic peace talks
with the help of Malaysia and Libya, but troops and the guerrillas clash
regularly on Mindanao.
Philippine investigators examining the airport bombing, helped by American
and Australian forensics experts, are also exploring the potential
involvement of Jemaah Islamiah, a Southeast Asian group seeking a strict
Muslim state.
http://asia.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=2494719
Another rogue terror group known as "US special Forces" have been seen in
the area,they may have 'local' assistance from ex-US Intelligence
goombahs.Search on keyword 'Piolenc'.
