Philippine police says arrests bombing suspect

Wed Feb 18, 2009 3:11am EST

MANILA Feb 18 (Reuters) - The Philippines has arrested a key suspect in the series of bombings in the troubled south since 2002, the head of the national police said on Wednesday, linking the country's largest Muslim group to the attacks.

Police arrested Muaweya Abubakar Masabpi while walking near a train station in Pasay City, Manila, on Feb. 10, after an arrest warrant had been issued by a court in Cotabato City on the southern island of Mindanao, Jesus Verzosa told reporters.

"We have in our custody a confessed Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) member who is wanted for killing innocent civilians in Mindanao," Verzosa said, showing a video of Masabpi's arrest and debriefing at the national police headquarters.

"He has been under our surveillance for quite sometime after we learned that he has travelled to Manila but we're still trying to find out what he is up to here."

The police described Masabpi as an expert bomb-maker and accuse him of involvement in at least six bombings in several areas on Mindanao since 2002, including an attack on a Roman Catholic cathedral in Cotabato City.

Verzosa said Masabpi belonged to the MILF's 105th base command led by Ustadz Ameril Ombra Kato, one of three rogue rebel leaders blamed for dozens of attacks on homes and farms in Catholic-dominated communities on Mindanao last year.

Last week, the government announced the arrest of two Muslim guerrillas with close links to Jemaah Islamiah (JI) who officials said were plotting fresh attacks on the restive southern island of Mindanao.

Among the targets were a Roman Catholic cathedral and beach resort in Davao City, the largest and busiest port city on the southern island of Mindanao.

Violence has escalated in six provinces on Mindanao since August 2008 when security forces battled rogue members of the MILF after the country's Supreme Court stopped the signing of a deal to expand an existing Muslim autonomous region.

The 40 year conflict in the south has killed 120,000 people and displaced 2 million. (Reporting by Manny Mogato; Editing by Alex Richardson)



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