One killed in ferry bomb near Jolo, Philippines; 5 wounded

11-year-old Cherryl fights back tears as she and her mother Nemesia accompany the body of her father, Limuel Obena. Obena was allegedly killed by an Abu Sayyaf gunman on the first day of the military operation to rescue the remaining 19 hostages.

September 20, 2000
Web posted at: 8:21 AM HKT (0021 GMT)

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines (Reuters) -- One man was killed and five were wounded in a bomb explosion on Wednesday aboard a passenger ferry coming in to Zamboanga, the main staging area for a Philippine military assault on Muslim rebels.

Police said the victim in the upper deck of the ferry appeared to be holding the bomb and that it exploded prematurely.

The blast occurred as the ferry was pulling into Zamboanga, only minutes after a naval ship carrying hundreds of refugees from the island of Jolo docked at the port.

The military launched an assault on Muslim rebels holding 19 hostages on Jolo on Saturday and fierce fighting entered a fifth day on Wednesday. The rebels had threatened to bomb Zamboanga and other cities if they were attacked.

Zamboanga is about 150 kilometers (95 miles) northeast of Jolo and is the nearest big city. It is also the headquarters of the military's southern command.

On Tuesday, thousands of civilians fled from the sporadic clashes on remote Jolo island, and thousands of others were trapped inside a tight military blockade of rebel areas, refugees said.

President Joseph Estrada said he would only halt the four-day assault if the Abu Sayyaf rebels free all their captives, including six foreigners.

A government soldier removes the blindfold of two unidentified men alleged to be members of the Muslim extremist group, the Abu Sayyaf

"Let them release the hostages and that's the time we can talk," he said.

Officials said some of the fleeing rebels were attempting to escape to nearby islands, but Estrada said there was no information any had been able to break through naval ship patrols.

The rebels are believed to have speedboats bought with some of the more than $15 million ransom they reportedly received from Libya and Malaysia for freeing other hostages.

The three separate Abu Sayyaf factions that were holding the hostages merged into two as they fled the assault, presidential Press Secretary Ricardo Puno said.

One group is holding American Jeffrey Schilling and Filipino Roland Ulla, who was kidnapped from a Malaysian diving resort in April. The other is holding two French journalists, three Malaysians and 12 Filipino Christian evangelists, he said.

The rebels are believed to be planning to use the hostages as human shields and bargaining chips, Puno said.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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