Aliens arrested in south RP

Aliens arrested in south RP

MANILA (AFP): Police arrested eight Moslems, including three foreigners, in the southern Philippines over the weekend in connection with kidnapping and the bombing of a Roman Catholic cathedral in 1993, the nation's police chief said yesterday.

Director-General Recaredo Sarmiento identified the foreigners as Nedal Saleh Odeh, a Kuwaiti medical student in the southern city of Davao, as well as Mohammad Jubran and Ahmad Jubran, whom he identified as Palestinian bomb experts.

Three Filipinos -- Ismael Lumingkit Ali, Abdulrahman Espina and Ismael Macan -- were also arrested with the foreigners during a raid on their hideout by police intelligence agents in Davao, 930 kilometers south of Manila, Sarmiento said.

The state-run Philippine News Agency had earlier identified the three foreigners as Jordanians.

Two other suspected Filipino terrorists were also arrested in a separate raid in General Santos city south of Davao.