Police kill 4 guerillas, foil rebel plot in RP

Police kill 4 guerillas, foil rebel plot in RP

Reuters, General Santos, Philippines

Philippine police shot dead four suspected Moro guerrillas on
Tuesday and said they had foiled another rebel plot to attack the
southern Christian city of General Santos.

The guerrillas were riding in two speedboats and trying to
land on the eastern coast of General Santos before dawn when
police confronted them, triggering a 30-minute clash.

Hours earlier, a crude bomb exploded on a deserted main street
of Cotabato City, 160 km (100 miles) northwest of General Santos,
startling residents out of their sleep but causing no casualties.

Regional police chief Col. Bartolome Baluyot said guerrillas
believed to be allied with the extremist Abu Sayyaf group were
suspected of being involved in both incidents.

The United States has accused the Abu Sayyaf of links to
Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda network,
prime suspects in the September 11 attacks on New York and
Washington.

U.S. special forces are holding counter-terrorism exercises on
Basilan island 350 km (215 miles) west of General Santos to help
train local soldiers fighting the group.

Suspected Muslim militants bombed a business district and a
residential area in General Santos on April 21, killing 15 people
and wounding scores. A man who said he represented the Abu Sayyaf
claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Baluyot said two boats carrying about 15 suspected bombers
were approaching General Santos at 4 a.m. when police fired
warning shots, and the suspects countered with grenades.