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.