Suspected al-Qaida-linked militants bomb cathedral in Philippines; no casualties

The Associated Press ,  Manila   |  Sun, 04/13/2008 1:22 PM  |  World

Manila - Suspected al-Qaida-linked militants bombed a Roman Catholic cathedral compound and a building housing a government office Sunday in the southern Philippines, police said. No one was injured in the blasts.

Police have been placed on the highest level of security following the dawn explosions in Zamboanga city, regional police Chief Superintendent Jaime Caringal said. Government troops and
police had already tightened security i the town for a weeklong national sports festival and a medical conference, he said.

Zamboanga, about 860 kilometers (530 miles) south of Manila, is home to U.S. troops providing counterterrorism training to Filipino soldiers. The military says the region is home to more than 300 armed members of the al-Qada-linked Abu Sayyaf terror group.

Caringal said a mortar round, concealed in a box, exploded under a car in the parking lot of the Immaculate Conception Cathedral, damaging two cars, a concrete wall and two steel gates.

A church caretaker saw three men fleeing the scene on a  motorcycle shortly before he blast, Caringal said. The caretaker said the men talked in a dialect spoken on Jolo, a mostly Muslim
island where the Abu Sayyaf is active.

Caringal said the men were seen fleeing toward downtown Zamboanga, where 15minutes later another mortar round exploded outside a three-story building housing the Department of Foreign Affairs' regional office, a bank and coffeeshop. That bomb, which was set off remotely using a cell phone, damaged the building's wall and a steel door, he said.

Caringal said police suspect the menwere Abu Sayyaf or Jemaah Islamiyah militants, but an investigation was under way.

"The bombings were apparently not meant to kill but aimed to cause fear," Caringal told The Associated Press by telephone.

"We condemn these acts of terrorism in the highest term," he said.

Archbishop Romulo Vales, a regional church official, called for prayers, and Zamboanga city Mayor Celso Lobregat appealed for calm.

"We should remain calm. Let us not panic or show fear because it will just give added victory to the perpetrators," Lobregat said at a news conference.

Zamboanga, a predominantly Christian city, has seen sporadic   bomb attacks in past years, including one that killed a U.S. Green Beret outside an army camp in 2002 and was blamed on Abu Sayyaf militants.

The U.S. and Australian embassies separately warned their citizens early this month that "extremist elements" planned to kidnap Americans andother foreigners in Zamboanga city.

The Abu Sayyaf are on U.S. and European terrorist lists for ransom kidnappings, beheadings and bomb attacks. (**)

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