| Submit your comments on this article |
| Southeast Asia |
| JI member's capture foiled planned Valenzuela City bombing |
| 2006-03-15 |
| The capture of a suspected Muslim militant may have averted planned bomb attacks in the capital as Philippine security forces were distracted by political tensions over a foiled coup plot, police officials said yesterday. Ali Ambing, a suspected member of the Abu Sayyaf, a militant group with links to the regional terror network Jemaah Islamiyah, was caught last Friday at a hideout in Valenzuela City, north of Manila. “We may have pre-empted what we believe was a wave of bomb attacks in Manila,” said a police spokesman after parading the suspected Muslim militant before journalists yesterday. Police said Ambing could be part of a group planning bomb attacks on the capital while military and police units are focused on defending the government against an alleged conspiracy between rogue troops and Maoist rebels to seize power. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said last month security officials had foiled a coup plot, prompting her to declare emergency rule for one week until March 3. Superintendent James Brillantes, a police intelligence officer, said army and police uniforms, materials for crude bombs and several pictures of suspected Muslim militants were seized from Ambing. Brillantes said Ambing was responsible for making the bombs that were used in the attack on a domestic ferry in February 2004 that killed more than 100 people, the worst terror attack in the Philippines. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |