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| Southeast Asia |
| Abu: We bombed Davao |
| 2003-03-05 |
| A MAN claiming to be a leader of the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group claimed responsibility yesterday for the bomb attack in Davao that killed 21 people and injured 157, but government and military officials quickly dismissed the claim. âWe will destroy the economy of the country; thatâs why we are targeting the airport,â the man, who identified himself as Hamsiraji Sali, told ABS-CBN in a telephone interview. âIt was not our intention to harm the civilians. We regret that many civilians were killed.â Sali's phone number was on the cell phone that was supposed to set off a bomb in Manila. So was an Iraqi diplomat's — the one Malacañang tossed... Military and police enforcers meanwhile arrested nine persons for the deadly bomb blast at the Davao International Airport, but declined to identify them or divulge their affiliations. The Defense Public Affairs chief, Lt. Col. Danilo Servando, said the suspects were captured separately hours after an improvised explosive device exploded in a waiting shed in the Davao airport. Defense Secretary Angelo T. Reyes, who flew yesterday to Davao with President Arroyo and other Cabinet officials, quickly dismissed Saliâs claim, saying Davao is not among the places the Abu Sayyaf is known to have operations. Looks like they want to hang this one on MILF... The Moro Islamic Liberation Front is known to hold operations in Davao, but has denied any involvement in the bombing. The MILF deputy chairman for political affairs, Ghadzali Jaafar, condemned the bombers as âpeople without minds.â "Those people are crazy. And I should know..." Interviewed on the telephone, Sali said the bombing was part of the MILFâs intensified offensive against civilian targets, including airports, terminals, power pylons and business establishments. He said, however, that civilians are not targets. âThe bombing was supposed to happen at midnight. The plan was just executed prematurely, [killing] many civilians who were not our targets in the first place. We apologize for that,â Sali said in Pilipino. "Oops. My bad!" |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #2 âIt was not our intention to harm the civilians. We regret that many civilians were killed.â Sali said the bombing was part of the MILFâs intensified offensive against civilian targets..., When you explode a bomb against a civilian target, chances are YOU'LL KILL CIVILIANS, S**THEAD!! And they can't even tell time either! I can really see the populace rising up to support these geniuses. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2003-03-05 15:46:05 |
| #1 "We just murdered a bunch of civilians for no good reason - sorry!" Sali and his buddies are too good for killing. Continuous torture for the rest of their natural lives is all that kind of scum deserve. |
| Posted by: Scooter McGruder 2003-03-05 15:17:45 |