Assassination suspected in Philippine blast

By Manny Mogato and Rosemarie Francisco

MANILA (Reuters) - A bomb rocked the Philippine Congress on Tuesday in a suspected assassination of a Muslim lawmaker that also killed two others, injured several more and unnerved the country's capital.

Wahab Akbar, who represented the restive southern island of Basilan, died from his injuries in a local hospital after the explosion tore up the southern entrance of the House of Representatives shortly after 8 p.m. (7:00 a.m. EST).

"From what we saw, it looks like Congressman Akbar was the target of the attack," Manila's police chief Geary Barias told local radio, adding the congressman's car was parked near the entrance.

"Congressman Akbar was getting threats from many groups."

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who visited the bomb site, urged Filipinos already rattled by a deadly explosion in an upscale Manila mall last month, to remain calm.

"Let me assure our people and our friends here and abroad that the Philippines and your government shall not rest until we get to the bottom of this tragedy and hunt down the perpetrators," she said in a televised address.

The driver of a legislator and a congressional aide were also killed and about eight people, including at least two MPs, were injured in the blast which ripped the roof off the southern entrance of Congress. A gnarled mesh of wire and concrete hung over the lobby.

"I was heading to my car because the session had already adjourned. When we were going down the south wing, there was a sudden explosion," Congresswoman Luz Ilagan said from hospital.

"I managed to walk but after a while I stumbled and realized my feet were bloodied and I couldn't stand up anymore," she said. "My driver did not make it."

"NOT AFRAID"

"It was definitely a bomb or a command detonated explosive," Jose de Venecia, the speaker of the lower house, told Reuters.

Small-scale bombings in the south, where there are long-running communist and Muslim insurgencies, and political murders are common in the Philippines, but central government offices have not been targeted before.

Last month, 11 people were killed and about 120 injured in an explosion at the Glorietta mall in Manila. The police have said a build up of gases was the likely cause but a final report has yet to be released and the owners of the centre, Ayala Land, have disputed the police's preliminary findings.

Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno said early indications suggested the bomb on Tuesday was detonated remotely. He said Congress' security detail would be replaced with members of the police's elite, special action force.

Manila and provinces north and south of the capital were put on full alert, while police and military officers cordoned off Congress.