Moslem guerrillas blamed for bombing in Zamboanga<\/p>\n
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines (Agencies): A Philippine military
\ncommander yesterday blamed Moslem guerrillas for the bombing of a
\nsouthern commercial center and ordered his men to capture the
\nrebel leader dead or alive.<\/p>\n
Maj. Gen. Orlando Soriano said the car bomb that wounded 33
\npeople in Zamboanga on Sunday evening was intended to divert the
\nmilitary from its four-day-old assault on the hideout of the
\nMoslem fundamentalist Abu Sayyaf group in nearby Jolo island.<\/p>\n
\"This is pre-planned by the Abu Sayyaf to lessen the pressure
\non them...but we will continue our drive, we are going to
\ncontinue the pressure,\" the regional commander said.<\/p>\n
\"My instruction to soldiers is to get him dead or alive,\"
\nSoriano said of rebel leader Abdurajak Janjalani, who assumed the
\nname Abu Sayyaf (Sword of God) after taking command of young
\nMoslem radicals.<\/p>\n
Police increased patrols around churches, schools, petrol
\nstations and other facilities in Zamboanga, a largely Christian
\ncity of 430,000 people, to prevent further attacks.<\/p>\n
Military reports said 30 guerrillas and eight soldiers had
\ndied in fighting since 1,400 troops, backed by gunboats and
\nwarplanes, launched their offensive on the rebels' mountain
\nstronghold in Jolo on Friday.<\/p>\n
A Marine spokesman said advancing soldiers were only 500
\nmeters from Abu Sayyaf's main camp and could take it during the
\nday.<\/p>\n
Officials said the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), the
\nmainstream rebel force campaigning for Moslem autonomy in the
\nsouth, had promised not to intervene in the fighting.<\/p>\n
Its main stronghold is also in Jolo, a mountainous island
\nlying off the southwestern tip of Mindanao about 950 kilometers
\nsouth of Manila.<\/p>\n
The military has blamed the Abu Sayyaf group for a spate of
\nkidnapping and bombing incidents in the southern islands in the
\npast year.<\/p>\n
More than 50,000 people died in Mindanao during the 1970s when
\nMoslem guerrillas fought to secede from the overwhelmingly
\nChristian country.<\/p>\n
The MNLF is now negotiating with the government for more
\nautonomy, rather than secession.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, UPI reported that the military captured yesterday
\nthe main rebel camp of Muslim extremists guerrillas in the
\nsouthern Philippines after a four-day assault that claimed at
\nleast 36 lives.<\/p>\n
Following an aerial bombardment on the camp, three battalions
\nof police and military troopers overran the stronghold of the Abu
\nSayyaf, a heavily armed rebel force that claimed responsibility
\nfor a rash of bombings and kidnappings in the past year.<\/p>\n
\"The Abu Sayyaf is a national menace,\" said Col. Ponciano
\nMillena, head of the joint police-military task force that
\ncarried out the offensive. \"We will not stop until we get rid of
\nthem.\"<\/p>",
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