Mindanao on heightened alert over bombings in Indonesia

ZAMBOANGA CITY (AFP) – The government beefed up security yesterday at government installations in violence-plagued Mindanao following a deadly bomb attack on the Indonesian island resort of Bali that killed at least 187 people, the military said.

Military Southern Command spokesman Lt. Col. Fredesvindo Covarrubias said the local intelligence community was on guard for possible attacks by Abu Sayyaf Muslim rebels, linked by Washington and Manila to Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda network.

"We have doubled the security in the southern Philippines because of recent attacks in Indonesia and the threats posed by Abu Sayyaf rebels and other lawless groups," Covarrubias said.

Apart from the Abu Sayyaf, he said authorities were also monitoring the movements of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) the country’s largest Muslim separatist group it had earlier blamed for a bomb attack in the southern city of Kidapawan that left at least six people dead.

The Abu Sayyaf, meanwhile, is the chief suspect behind an Oct. 2 bomb attack that killed a US serviceman and three Filipinos in Zamboanga, a predominantly Christian port city.

"We are closely monitoring the activities of these lawless groups," Covarrubias said. "We hope that what happened to Bali and Sulawesi won’t happen in the southern Philippines."

Up to 187 people were said to have been killed and scores of others wounded after a bomb ripped through two bars packed with foreign tourists late Saturday in Bali.

Another bomb exploded hours earlier outside the Philippines’ consulate general office in Manado, on the northern tip of Sulawesi although there were no reports of injuries.

Indonesian Embassy spokesman Triyogo Jatmiko said yesterday the attack on the Philippine consulate was considered a terrorist act aimed at discrediting his government.

"This irresponsible act of terrorism is simply intolerable and aimed at discrediting the government of Indonesia," Jatmiko told AFP in Manila.

The blast caused "damage to the main gate and windows" of the consulate office,Central Sulawesi police said.

Indonesian ambassador Soeratmin told the Philippine department of Foreign Affairs yesterday about the blast and "he was shocked to learn about the incident, he strongly condemns it and we will do everything possible to bring the perpetrators to book," Jatmiko said.