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| Southeast Asia |
| 10 suicide bombers at large in the Philippines |
| 2005-07-27 |
| Security forces are hunting 10 would-be suicide bombers and have already foiled a plot for a major attack, National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales said yesterday. Gonzales said he was worried about possible new attacks in Manila following the recent terror bombings in London and Egypt. "From intelligence information we have gathered from our neighbors, we know that there are suicide bombers now in the Philippines, at least 10 of them, preparing for a terrorist attack," he told ANC television as he pushed for swift passage of an anti-terrorism law. He said one intelligence unit has been "solely dedicated to pursuing the terrorists." He did not identify the alleged terrorists or the groups they belong to and gave no other details. Gonzales also said Philippine security forces foiled a "huge plot" to bomb unspecified targets with the seizure of 600 kilograms (1,320 pounds) of explosives earlier this year. At the time, police said bombings planned by the al-Qaeda-linked Muslim extremist Abu Sayyaf group were preempted with the arrest of a suspected militant whose information led to the explosives cache in March. The military said the explosives were intended for terror attacks in Manila during the Easter holidays. Terror bombings have hit the capital and other parts of the country in recent years. On Valentine’s Day, three almost simultaneous attacks in Manila and the southern Philippines killed four people and wounded 63 others. In her State Of The Nation Address Monday, Arroyo urged "swift passage of an anti-terrorism law that will protect rather than subvert, enhance rather than weaken, the rights and liberties that terrorism precisely threatens with extinction." She also reported that anti-terror operations have hurt the Abu Sayyaf and the Southeast Asian terror group Jemaah Islamiyah, leaving the terror movement to "only pick up the pieces of its broken backbone" in the southern Mindanao region. Several draft anti-terrorism bills are pending in Congress. Some would set up a controversial national ID system or allow electronic surveillance and arrests without warrants. Opponents warn of erosion of civil liberties. "We are writing a law intended for terrorists, it’s not intended for citizens," Gonzales said. "We are dealing with a very, very specialized group, a very small minority imbedded in the societies of the world... They seem to want to achieve their purpose by murdering as many civilians, as many innocents as possible." |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |