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By Al Jacinto Correspondent
ZAMBOANGA CITY: Philippine
authorities arrested four suspected Filipino terrorists in separate
operations in Mindanao, officials said Tuesday.
Police said it is still
investigating the men if they are members of the Abu Sayyaf group
tied to al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiyah.
Three of those arrested were said
to be behind a bomb attack last month in Zamboanga City that injured
16 people.
The men, Marjuni Amala, Aristalon
Isniril and Ronely Ahman, were arrested on Tuesday. They admitted
planting the bomb under a concrete bench at a public square called
Plaza Pershing in downtown Zamboanga on August 21. They left behind
the explosive under the bench where it was detonated.
The three men said they were
recruited by a man named Omar Amping to bomb a police SWAT van, but
backed out because of tight security.
It was unknown whether the man
was the same Omar Amping, who is wanted by authorities for the
string of killings in Zamboanga City.
Paraded by policemen in Zamboanga
City, the trio said they were paid P1,000 to carry out the bombing.
Zamboanga City Mayor Celso
Lobregat also offered P200,000 bounty for the capture of Amping.
In General Santos City, security
forces also arrested a suspected terrorist and seized from him two
homemade bombs.
The man, police said, was
planning to bomb the KCC Mall on Tuesday to coincide with the
commemoration of the September 11, 2001 al-Qaeda attacks in the
United States. Police suspects that the man, Maipasagi Gani, has
ties with Jemaah Islamiyah and the Abu Sayyaf.
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