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| Southeast Asia |
| Philippine Army Seizes Explosives at Manila Port |
| 2004-06-11 |
| Security forces at a Manila port seized 10 crates of bomb-making material bound for the southern Philippines on Friday and said militants linked to the al Qaeda network were likely behind the shipment. One dock worker who was caught trying to bring the shipment onto a passenger ferry had been arrested, but denied knowing what was in the boxes, said Lieutenant-General Alberto Braganza, Manila’s military commander. The crates contained plastic explosives, blasting caps, rolls of detonating cords and time fuses, officials said. The man was trying to load them onto a ferry leaving on Saturday for Zamboanga, a port city in the southern island of Mindanao, home to several Muslim insurgent groups. "If these exploded, either intentionally or accidentally while the ship is under way, one cannot imagine the loss of lives and limbs as a result," Braganza told reporters. The arrested man said a Muslim trader had asked him to ship the boxes declared as general merchandise valued at 20,000 pesos ($358), Braganza said. The military suspected the shipment was connected to the al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf Group, he said. An Abu Sayyaf leader has said his group was responsible for planting a bomb on a Mindanao-bound ferry in February before it sank near Manila, killing more than 100 people. The government says it is still investigating the cause of the disaster. Two weeks ago, security forces seized crude bombs in the southern island of Jolo, saying they had prevented an attack on a ferry bound for Zamboanga. The military said in late April they had uncovered a plot to bomb ferries in Mindanao after arresting four Muslim separatist rebels, prompting President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to cancel the last leg of her campaign for May 10 elections. |
| Posted by:TS(vice girl) |