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Bali links to Philippines attacks alert
Staff and wires
MANILA, Philippines -- Philippines authorities have stepped up the hunt for suspects believed to have links with the militants involved in the weekend bombing of a Bali nightspot, amidst fears of an attack on local soil. Four people linked to the militant Jemaah Islamiah group are thought to be planning new attacks in Philippines, a senior police official said on Tuesday. The four, two Filipinos and two foreigners, are believed to be part of a group which bombed an overhead railway system and other targets in Manila in December 2000, killing 22 people and injuring more than 100, national police intelligence chief Roberto Delfin said. Last weekend's bomb attacks on the Indonesian tourist island of Bali that killed more than 180 people and injured hundreds, all mostly international tourists, has added to the urgency of the search. "For the past two weeks, we have not monitored any threats to our country (but) ... we believe that they still have plans and we are monitoring their activities. We believe they are part of Jemaah Islamiah," Reuters news agency quoted Delfin as saying. Jemaah has been accused by intelligence agencies of seeking to bomb Western targets as part of a jihad, or holy war, intended to establish an Islamic state in Muslim areas in Southeast Asia. High alertPhilippine National Police chief Reynaldo Velasco stressed the need to heighten security measures in crowded areas such as bus, train and light rail stations, airports, piers, and shopping malls. "Police visibility should be increased especially in crowded places," Velasco was quoted as saying in the Manila Bulletin. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has also sent a medical team, comprising burns experts and nurses, to Bali. There were no reports of any Filipino fatalities in the Bali blast. Arroyo condemned Saturday's bomb blasts and those near the Philippine consulate in Manado the same day. The Manado blast caused no injuries. "The president placed the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police on heightened alert to avoid similar terrorist attacks in the Philippines," National Security Adviser Roilo Golez told a Manila radio station. U.S. troopsThe security alert coincided with joint military exercises involving more than 800 U.S. troops and Philippine soldiers aimed at improving the combat readiness of the two militaries. U.S. officials said the planned two-week exercises on the main island of Luzon in the country's north, which began on Monday, were not part of the United States' anti-terror campaign. Hundreds of U.S. troops ended a six-month training programme of local soldiers in July to help them defeat the Muslim Abu Sayyaf guerrillas, also linked by Washington to al Qaeda. At least 30 Muslim rebels have been killed in four days of fighting in Lanao del Sur province on the main southern island of Mindanao, 800 km (500 miles) south of Manila, a Philippine military spokesman said on Tuesday. No government casualties have been reported in the clashes, which started on Saturday after the military detected the presence of about 700 guerrillas in a rebel training camp in Sultan Gumander municipality. The spokesman said the guerrilla force included units of the Abu Sayyaf and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). The MILF is the biggest rebel group fighting for a Muslim homeland in the south of the country but has been holding peace talks with Manila to try to end the separatist conflict. The military is also pursuing Abu Sayyaf guerrillas holding seven hostages, including three Indonesians and four Filipino women Christian evangelists, on Jolo island, off Mindanao. Reuters contributed to this report.
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