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