'Bomb at US compound not work of terrorists'

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Raul Bacalzo yesterday maintained the explosives recovered near the premises of the US embassy were not related to terrorism.

Bacalzo also gave assurance that a thorough investigation is being conducted to determine the real motive for the incident.

Police explosive experts disarmed a grenade and ammunition for a 40mm recoilless rifle contained inside a green clutch bag.

The explosives were discovered Wednesday by a street sweeper near the perimeter fence of the Seafront Residences of the US embassy along Roxas Boulevard in Pasay City. The Seafront Residences is a row of houses occupied by American officials and their families.

Police officials pointed out the explosives were not even primed for an attack.

“(The incident was) not an act of terrorism. The explosive devices were old and rusty,” Bacalzo said.

He said that if the explosives were to be used, they should have been prepared to explode.

Bacalzo pointed out the grenade recovered at the scene was old and rusty with its lever fixed by electrical tape, while the 40mm grenade launcher ammunition was useless without its launcher.

“Even if that were thrown, it would not explode without its launcher,” Bacalzo said.

Bacalzo addedd the suspect carrying the bag containing the explosives apparently threw it away after sensing policemen in the area.

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has stepped into the investigation of the incident, according to a ranking police official.

The official revealed that two ranking FBI officials had a closed-door meeting with Pasay City police chief Senior Superintendent Napoleon Cuaton on Thursday and asked for copies of the report on the explosives recovered in the vicinity of the US embassy.

The official said the FBI officials promised to coordinate and communicate with Cuaton regarding the results of their own investigation on the incident.

The source, however, did not mention who the two FBI officials were.

Southern Police District (SPD) director Chief Superintendent Jose Arne de los Santos confirmed that the FBI paid a visit to Cuaton.

De los Santos, however, refused to elaborate and only said “they (FBI) are asking for the results of the ongoing police investigation on the incident.”

The source revealed the two FBI agents arrived at Cuaton’s office at about 1:45 p.m. and left more than an hour later.

“There will be another meeting in the next few days but I cannot tell you the exact date and the place where it would take place,” the official said.

De los Santos also declared the incident was not related to the recent adverse travel advisories issued by the US and other countries pointing to an imminent terror attack in the country.

Investigators theorized the suspects, riding tandem on a motorcycle, could have discarded the explosives to avoid being frisked by policemen manning a checkpoint at the corner of Roxas Boulevard and Buendia Avenue, some 20 meters away from the embassy compound.

A surveillance camera of the US embassy failed to take footage of the suspects who threw the explosives some 6.5 meters away from the embassy gate, De los Santos said.

He claimed that closed-circuit television cameras of other establishments in the area also failed to record the incident.

The police also questioned workers at a construction site in front of the US embassy but all claimed not to have noticed the suspects.

“The discovery of the explosives has nothing to do with the advisory on the terrorist threat to the country,” De los Santos reiterated.

But the source pointed out the visiting FBI agents had claimed the US embassy has another CCTV footage that could have caught the suspects planting the explosives.

“They (FBI) are willing to forward a copy of the video footage to the local police but only after their superiors give them a go signal,” the source added. – Non Alquitran