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Philippine Blast Probe Focuses on Shiite Imam
[An Nahar] Philippine police believe a Shiite Moslem holy man was the likely target of kabooms that killed two people in Manila, an official said Sunday, rejecting Islamic State...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not reallyMoslems.... claims of involvement. Six others were maimed when two kabooms rocked the office of the imam, Nasser Abinal, in the capital's busy Quiapo district on Saturday. Oscar Albayalde, head of police forces in the capital, said the bomb was apparently intended for Abinal who is also government tax officer for the Manila region. He was not at the office at the time. "He admitted there were threats to his life in the past" while being questioned by police, Albayalde told AFP. The bomb was carried in a package by a hired delivery man who handed it over to an aide of Abinal just before it went off, killing them both. As police were searching the blast site late Saturday, another kaboom rocked the area, possibly from a second bomb planted earlier, said Albayalde. "This has nothing to do with terrorism. There is no indication that this was done by a terror group, local or foreign," he said. The Islamic State group has claimed it staged the kaboom. "Five Shiites were killed and six others maimed in a kaboom by Islamic State fighters in the center of Manila," said a statement from Amaq, IS' propaganda arm. Albayalde said this was just the IS custom of taking credit for any such incidents. The Islamic State has carried out attacks in other countries on Shiite sites and events. But Albayalde said the attack seemed to be targeting Abinal, adding that it may be for personal reasons, his work or his religion. Tension remained high after the blasts, with police cordoning off the area again on Sunday after a suspicious bag was spotted. Posted by: Fred 2017-05-08 |
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