Thursday, May 03, 2007
Two suspected bombers arrested in southern RP (8:55 p.m.)
MANILA -- Philippine troops arrested two suspected bombers in a raid on their southern hide-out Thursday recovering guns, bomb-making materials, and ammunition, officials said.
The two men did not resist arrest when soldiers stormed their hide-out in North Cotabato province's Midsayap township, said Lieutenant Colonel Julieto Ando, spokesman of the army's 6th Infantry Division.
The suspects admitted during interrogation they were members of the Muslim rebel Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) group, Ando said.
MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu said he was not certain they were MILF cadres.
"Regardless of what group they belong to, this is a terrorist group," Ando said, adding the two were suspected of involvement in last month's bomb explosion that wounded a villager in Midsayap.
Midsayap, about 890 kilometers (550 miles) south of Manila, was the scene of days of fighting in March between MILF rebels and Philippine troops. The clashes killed 19 people.
The 11,000-strong MILF has been fighting for Muslim self-rule in the overwhelmingly Catholic Philippines' south for decades.
The MILF has been engaged in on-and-off again Malaysian-brokered peace talks since it signed a cease-fire agreement with the government in 2003. (AP)
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