Abu Sayyaf caused ferry sinking: RP

Abu Sayyaf caused ferry sinking: RP

PHILIPPINES: A bomb planted by the militant group Abu Sayyaf caused the sinking of a Philippine ferry that killed more than 100 people in February, the government said on Monday.

Abu Sayyaf, believed to have links with al-Qaeda, had claimed responsibility, but the government initially said the explosion and fire that sank Superferry 14 at the mouth of Manila Bay were probably caused by an accident.

It was the worst terror attack in Asia since the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings blamed on the regional militant group Jamaah Islamiyah.

"We have solved the Superferry bombing," President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said in a statement. "Today, criminal charges were filed against the six perpetrators. These are the same people responsible for the Dos Palmas kidnapping."

Abu Sayyaf militants abducted three Americans, two of whom later died, and 17 Filipinos from the Dos Palmas beach resort in the southwestern Philippines in 2001.

Two of the ferry bombing suspects, including one suspected of beheading American hostage Guillermo Sobero, were arrested in March after raids by security forces in Manila.

The government said then it had foiled Abu Sayyaf plans to bomb shopping malls and embassies in the capital. -- Reuters