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1) One American Killed, Three Injured In Philippine Airport Blast 2) Philippine Explosion Leaves Uncounted Dead 3) Quarter Of A Million Left Homeless Because Of Fighting In Southern Philippines http://www.ptd.net/webnews/wed/cr/Qphilippines-attacks-us.RPJP_DM4.html One American killed, three injured in southern Philippine airport blast MANILA, March 4 (AFP) - One American was killed and three other US citizens were injured in a bomb blast Tuesday that hit Davao airport in the southern Philippines, a US embassy spokesman said. "I am sad to say that one of the four Americans injured in the explosion has died in hospital," spokesman Ronald Post told AFP. He said he could not give further details, including their identities. Nineteen people were killed and more than 100 others injured in the powerful blast that struck a shed outside the Davao airport terminal. ------------------------------------------------------ http://www.ptd.net/webnews/wed/co/Qphilippines-unrest-blast.Rh_m_DM4.html New explosion hits bus terminal in southern Philippines DAVAO, Philippines, March 4 (AFP) - A loud explosion ripped through a bus terminal in the southern Philippine city of Davao on Tuesday just minutes after a deadly bomb attack at the city's airport, police said. "An explosion rocked a bus terminal in Ecoland, we have no reports of casualties yet," said a police official, asking to remain anonymous. Police said they were investigating if the explosion at the bus station was connected to the earlier blast at Davao's international airport, which left at least 16 dead and many others wounded. ------------------------------------------------------ http://www.ptd.net/webnews/wed/bu/Qphilippines-unrest.Rf_Y_DM4.html Nearly quarter million displaced by southern Philippines fighting MANILA, March 4 (AFP) - Nearly a quarter million people were displaced by fighting between government troops and Muslim separatists in the southern Philippines last month and remain fearful of returning home, officials said Tuesday. Government officials plan to declare the area of the Liguasan Marsh on Mindanao island a de facto demilitarized zone to entice the displaced residents to return, members of President Gloria Arroyo's cabinet told a joint news conference. The military mounted a major offensive in the area in mid-February to pursue kidnappers and terror bombing suspects allegedly being sheltered by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the country's largest Muslim separatist guerrilla force. The fighting left nearly 200 people dead. "The total number of families affected is 40,153 and the total number of individuals is 214,000," Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman told the press briefing. Twelve of the 101 government-run shelters put up by the government for the displaced had since been closed down, but the centers remain packed and 12 people had died due to various diseases, she added. Some families have attempted to return home, but they experienced after a day or two harassment from elements of the 12,500-member MILF and other armed groups operating in the area, specifically the Pentagon kidnap gang, Soliman said. "They (gunmen) would fire at the (pro-government militia) detachments and or the Army detachments, so what happens is they (residents) go back to the evacuation centers," she added. The MILF has rejected a ceasefire and has since launched sabotage attacks, blacking out 90 percent of the island last week by blowing up power transmission towers. Jesus Dureza, a presidential assistant and peace negotiator with the MILF, said the Arroyo cabinet decided at a meeting Tuesday that parts of the Liguasan Marsh, including the towns of Pikit, Pagalungan and Pagagawan in central Mindanao to be declared a "zone of peace". "We will move out our troops from the population centers and we'll just be in the periphery to secure and try to make sure that there will be no further intrusions from any armed groups," added armed forces chief of staff General Dionisio Santiago. Police would enter the population centers only to prevent criminal activities, he said. Asked if the government would ask the MILF to cooperate, Dureza said: "I'm sure cooperation from the MILF will be good, a welcome development if we can. "But the government is determined to take the initiative in pushing for this because we feel that this is the right thing to do for our people in the area." Dureza said the government is attempting to restart stalled peace talks with the MILF, which has been waging a 25-year campaign to set up an Islamic state in the southern third of the mainly Roman Catholic Philippine islands. "Efforts are being (made) to link up with our facilitators which are Malaysia and Libya," he said without elaborating but referring to two countries which have acted as intermediaries in peace talks with the MILF in the past. __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! 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