http://www.turkishpress.com/world/news.asp?id=050107122849.bgrcond1.xml
Philippines arrests militants over plot to bomb Catholic procession 01-07-2005, 12h28 MANILA (AFP) - Philippines police arrested 16 Islamic militants planning to carry out suicide bombings on a Roman Catholic procession in the capital this weekend. The suspects, including three women, were detained after police raided a Muslim library in downtown Manila. Most appeared to be Filipino, with two of the suspects denying being part of a terrorist plot. "The scenario is, these would be the suicide bombers in the Feast of the Black Nazarene," said Senior Superintendent Elmer Jamias, referring to an annual Catholic procession in downtown Manila on Sunday. "They would rig their bodies with bombs, join the procession, and blow themselves up. God made sure this would not happen," Jamias told reporters Friday. "We seized three improvised explosive devices, a caliber .-45 and a caliber .38 guns," said Chief Superintendent Pedro Bulaong, Manila's police chief. Journalists on the scene said grenades were also found. Tens of thousands of Catholic devotees, barefoot and wearing maroon tunics, take part in the annual January 9 procession in which an ebony icon of Jesus is taken from Manila's Quiapo church and paraded around the district. "Had we not recovered these bombs and arrested these people, the procession could have turned into a bloodbath," Jamias said. Police later showed reporters an inventory of bomb-making equipment seized in and the guns on the floor of the Islamic Information Center on the upper floor of an office building in central Manila. Jamias said the suspects were members of a movement known as "Return to Islam" movement, made up of former Christians who have converted to Islam. The authorities are checking whether any of the suspects have ties to Islamic militants operating abroad, said Avelino Razon, the director of the Manila region's police forces. The detained suspects later denied plotting a terrorist attack or hoarding explosives. "All of them (evidence) were planted," cried a woman suspect who identified herself as Shaliba Asan. "Do I look like a terrorist?" said an older man, who called himself Arabsi Agwan. The Philippines is fighting a decades-old Muslim separatist insurgency in the southern island of Mindanao, where radical members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front are accused of giving sanctuary and training to members of the Jemaah Islamiyah. Jemaah Islamiyah is the Southeast Asia wing of Al-Qaeda and has been blamed for the Bali bombing in October 2002 that claimed 202 lives. Abu Sayyaf Filipino guerrillas with alleged ties to Al-Qaeda set fire to a passenger ferry on Manila Bay in February last year, killing more than 100 people in the country's worst terrorist attack. Two of six suspects charged in connection with that attack are in police custody. The Davao airport and wharf in the southern Philippines were also bombed by suspected Muslim militants in 2003, claiming 38 lives including an American passenger. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Give underprivileged students the materials they need to learn. Bring education to life by funding a specific classroom project. http://us.click.yahoo.com/FHLuJD/_WnJAA/cUmLAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
