RP arrests two bombing suspects

RP arrests two bombing suspects

PHILIPPINES: Two men suspected in bombings that killed 42 people last year have been arrested in the southern Philippines and linked to the al-Qaeda-allied Southeast Asian terror group Jamaah Islamiyah, authorities said on Thursday.

The two suspects, Rahman Camili and Rio Dimson Manamba, both Filipinos, were presented to reporters in handcuffs in a Manila military camp.

They are suspected of planting a bomb outside Davao airport terminal in March 2003, which killed 23 people including an American missionary and wounded 127 others, and another bomb a month later, at the southern city's busy wharf that killed 19 and wounded 39.

The men are among more than 100 people arrested in antiterror sweeps since March, officials said. Their names and locations were provided by previously arrested suspects who told investigators they were part of cells trained by Jamaah Islamiyah operatives, the military said in a statement.

The military statement said the pair told government investigators that the bombings were carried out "with the knowledge of Jamaah Islamiyah." --AP