Man holds knife at Arroyo visit site

Man holds knife at Arroyo visit site

PHILIPPINES: Police on Monday arrested a man with a knife as he tried to scale the wall of a stadium where President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo landed by helicopter, her chief of security said.

The incident in the central Philippines came amid a national controversy over Arroyo's decision to let U.S. military forces train Filipino troops in fighting the Moro Abu Sayyaf guerrillas linked to Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda network.

Arroyo flew into the agricultural town of San Jose in Antique province, 440 km south of Manila, to commemorate the death anniversary of an opposition leader assassinated in 1986 during the last days of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos's rule.

The man, in combat boots and khaki pants of the type worn by local police, was caught 100 meters from where Arroyo actually landed, about 20 minutes later, in the middle of the stadium. --Reuters