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Ferry bomb designed to burn, not explode
THE BOMB that injured 30 people on a passenger ferry appeared to have been designed to only cause a fire, the Philippine National Police said Monday, while President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo blamed terrorists, with officials pointing the finger at the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group.

“It was found that a low explosive substance was used here, unlike in previous bombings,” said PNP spokesperson Leopoldo Bataoil of Sunday morning’s blast aboard the MV Doña Ramona as it was boarding passengers at the Dangkalan wharf in Lamitan town, Basilan province.

“If it’s a low explosive, the effect would be a burning effect that could cause fire,” Bataoil said.

He said it was not clear why the substance was used instead of a highly explosive substance, but it was possible the perpetrators’ aim was only “to instill fear and panic.”

Ms Arroyo in a statement said, “I condemn the ferry bombing... as a crime against peace and humanity that will not go unpunished. I have directed our security forces to pinpoint and hunt down the perpetrators who have shown a total disregard for the law and human life.”

The ferry was preparing to depart with more than 300 passengers for nearby Zamboanga City when the bomb went off. At least six people were badly injured, including a soldier, with nine children among the casualties.

PNP Director General Arturo Lomibao quickly flew to Lamitan and created an investigative task force composed of bomb experts, investigators, crime lab experts and officers from the local police command.

Bataoil said police were using witness accounts to draw a sketch of the man suspected to have left the bomb, hidden in a cardboard box filled with old clothes, on a counter in the canteen at the rear of the ferry.

The suspicious-looking man hurriedly disembarked, said Brigadier General Raymundo Ferrer, 103rd Army Brigade commander, who also rushed to the scene.

Ferrer said no one had claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Abu Sayyaf, which has a presence on Basilan, was a prime suspect.

Last year, a bomb went off on the SuperFerry 14 in Manila Bay, killing 116 people in the country’s worst terror attack. The Abu Sayyaf took responsibility for the blast. Two bombs that wounded 30 people in Zamboanga City early this month were also blamed on the group.

Armed Forces Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Generoso Senga said the bomb attack was the handiwork of the Abu Sayyaf.

“That is the consensus of all investigative agencies handling the case. That is the initial conclusion,” Senga said in an interview in Camp Aguinaldo yesterday.

He said the conclusion was “based on the existing threat and the capability of the group to conduct such an atrocity.”

Senga theorized the Abu Sayyaf attacked the Doña Ramona to divert the military’s attention away from its pursuit of Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khadaffy Janjalani in Central Mindanao.

Lomibao, however, was not so quick to blame the Abu Sayyaf.

“Definitely it was a terrorist attack but we cannot say for sure,” he said.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which in the past had been blamed for almost every bombing incident in the country, is helping the government this time.

The MILF said it had deployed personnel to gather information on who was behind the ferry bombing.

“The MILF is helping in hunting down the perpetrators of the latest attack against civilians,” said Ghazali Jaafar, MILF vice chief for political affairs.

The MILF moved even without a formal request from the government. The peace talks between the government and the MILF are currently suspended.

“We denounce terrorism. Right now, we are in the process of gathering information. We have alerted our men in Basilan to inform us if they have information about those behind the ferry blast,” Jaafar said.

He said the move was part of their commitment to the guidelines of the Adhoc Joint Action Group (Adjac), which is composed of representatives from both the government and MILF and is tasked to stop terrorists and kidnappers.

Chief Superintendent Sukarno Ikbala, police director of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, said the explosive was not meant to kill.

“Unlike other bomb attacks that were meant to kill and destroy, this one was different because the explosive had no shrapnel as evidenced by the victims who only suffered burns,” Ikbala said.

Superintendent Jose Bayani Gusela, Zamboanga City Police deputy director and chief of the local police Explosives and Ordnance Detection Unit, was more definite.

“The suspect or suspects used a black powder commonly found in pyrotechnics,” he said.

“We don’t see any pattern similar to previous explosions,” he added.

Because of this, Emilia Torres has no one to blame for what happened to her son, 18-year-old Emmanuel.

“It pains me to see my son suffering,” Torres said. “I just pray they’ll be arrested and jailed.”
Posted by: Dan Darling 2005-08-30
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=128124