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.