‘Sayyaf to sow terror in key cities’

ILIGAN CITY — The extremist Abu Sayyaf, which has links to international terrorist Osama bin Laden, has hatched a plan to sow terror in major cities in Mindanao, a police intelligence officer here said yesterday.

Col. Virgilio Maligaya, chief of the city police’s criminal investigation and intelligence division, quoted intelligence reports as saying that the Abu Sayyaf, which still holds an American couple hostage, has fielded teams to different places in Mindanao.

This, as explosives experts detonated two homemade bombs, one of which was planted inside a food outlet, in Pagadian City Sunday and yesterday as Zamboanga del Sur was marking its 49th founding anniversary, authorities said.

The reported Abu Sayyaf terror plot has prompted the military and police in this city to tighten security, subjecting motorists and passengers to inspection at checkpoints.

The Western Mindanao police said the first bomb was found at 7 p.m. Sunday inside an eatery, Diners Plaza, in downtown Pagadian.

Yesterday, a tricycle driver sought police help after a box left by an unidentified passenger was found to contain a time bomb. Both bombs were quickly detonated.

The blast sent government employees, students and teachers taking part in yesterday’s parade scampering for safety.

The parade and other anniversary programs, however, proceeded after authorities gave assurance that the situation was under control.

Last Sept. 4, four people, including two bomb experts, were killed and 14 others, among them five policemen, were wounded when a homemade bomb exploded at a bus terminal in downtown Pagadian. — Lino de la Cruz, Roel Pareño