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Sunday, April 25, 2004
Cargo of banned chemical explosives seized
ZAMBOANGA -- About 500 kilograms (1,100 pounds) of a banned chemical that could be used to make explosives were seized recently, the military said Saturday.
Bomb-sniffing dogs discovered the chemical, ammonium nitrate, in a container in Ozamis City on Thursday, said military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Renoir Pascua.
One man was arrested and was being questioned, officials said. Details about the origin and destination of the container were not immediately available.
Ammonium nitrate is used in fertilizers, but is also an ingredient in improvised explosives used by Muslim rebel groups and criminal gangs in the country.
"An investigation is ongoing to determine exactly the nature of the usage of the banned item even as authorities in the area are tracing the origin of the chemical explosive," Pascua said.
Authorities have recently been warned of bomb threats from the Muslim extremist Abu Sayyaf group which has staged bombings and kidnapped Christian and foreign targets in the south.
This month, the government announced it had foiled a series of "Madrid-level" bomb attacks in Manila through the arrest of six Abu Sayyaf suspects.
The Abu Sayyaf has been linked by Washington and Manila to the Al-Qaeda terror network of Osama bin Laden.
Bomb scare
Meanwhile, In Dumaguete, city police went on full alert Thursday afternoon after they received a phone call about a bomb left somewhere inside Jollibee, a fast-food restaurant, along Perdices Street.
Dumaguete police chief Supt. Constantino Barot Jr. said the caller had a female voice with an Ilongga accent. The call was made around 1 p.m., prompting police to search the restaurant's vicinity.
Investigators found nothing after a careful search inside the restaurant.
Police believe the report was a hoax, coming two days after a Negros Navigation passenger ship, MV San Paolo, was forced to dock at the Dumaguete pier for a similar report, stranding more than 600 passengers for six hours.
After scouring the ship's inside for several hours, the joint bomb squad from the city and provincial police, the maritime office, the coast guard, and Philippine Ports Authority found no bomb.
The ship was sailing for Iloilo City when its officers received a radio message that one of its passengers was carrying a package containing a bomb. Maricar Aranas/AFP
(April 25, 2004 issue)
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