Airport blast heightens new tension in Manila

Airport blast heightens new tension in Manila

MANILA (Reuters): A bomb blast rocked the Philippines'
international airport in Manila on Sunday, damaging a building
and heightening tension in a city gripped by fear of attacks from
Moro militants.

There were no casualties from the explosion, which occurred
along a driveway about 15 meters from the main terminal building,
police said.

The blast took place some two weeks after two Manila shopping
malls were bombed by alleged separatists and was the fifth in a
month to hit the capital of 10 million people.

The airport bomb was the third blast to occur in the country
within 12 hours.

One person was killed and four were wounded when a bomb went
off before dawn on Sunday in a bus terminal in southern Iligan
city, while a grenade exploded last Saturday night at the Mount
Carmel Catholic cathedral on Jolo island, further south. No one
was hurt in the church blast.

No groups have claimed responsibility.

The bombings in the capital and the flare-up of separatist
violence in the southern islands have posed the biggest security
challenge to President Joseph Estrada in his two years in office.

They have also heightened concern among Manila residents on
the eve of the reopening of the school classes on Monday after
the summer break.

Police have said public places such as schools and churches
are possible targets of extremist attacks.

The airport blast damaged a women's toilet and shattered glass
and aluminum panels in an airport extension building where
arriving passengers wait. There were no flight disruptions.

Investigators said they believed the bomb made of gunpowder
packed in an aluminum container was tossed from a utility van
onto the roadside outside the terminal building.

The two men sped through a red light and bumped a passenger
bus before escaping, they said. An artist's sketch of the van
driver showed a man in his 20s.

The bombings come amid a growing insurgency in the south of
the country and a long-running drama in which Abu Sayyaf
separatist rebels have been holding 21 mostly foreign hostages
for 43 days on southern Jolo island.

Government forces have also been engaged in heavy fighting
with the main separatist group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front
(MILF), on the main southern island of Mindanao, 800 km south of
the capital.

Airport manager Antonio Gana downplayed the explosion, saying
it could be the work of "a prankster" who wanted to create panic.
"I don't think it's related to the Mindanao conflict," he told
reporters.

Police had initially blamed right-wing extremists for the
Manila mall bombings but later said they had arrested 26
militants for involvement, charging them with murder.

One person was killed and dozens injured in the mall attacks
on May 17 and May 21.

In two other attacks in the capital last month, a park was
bombed while the national police headquarters was hit by
grenades.

In another incident in Manila early on Sunday, a fire of still
unknown cause razed a building at the military headquarters.

On Jolo, where the Abu Sayyaf guerrillas are holding their 21
hostages, tension also mounted when a grenade exploded at the
entrance to the Catholic Cathedral last Saturday night. The
cathedral is being renovated and nobody was inside at the time.

Government negotiators said they hoped to resume talks with
the rebels by Wednesday to discuss the release of the hostages.

Chief government negotiator Roberto Aventajado said the rebels
had not demanded ransom. Manila newspapers said they were asking
for US$1.0 million for each hostage.

The hostages -- nine Malaysians, three Germans, two French
nationals, two South Africans, two Finns, two Filipinos and a
Lebanese -- were snatched from a Malaysian resort on April 23.