Philippines Bombing

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Al Qaida Revenge on Philippine Congressman?

2007-11-14 12:36:10 -

MANILA, Philippines (AP) - A congressman killed in a bombing outside the Philippine legislature was with al-Qaida-linked militants and then switched sides to support an offensive against them _ but it was not clear if the blast was revenge for that betrayal, officials said Wednesday.

Rep. Wahab Akbar died of wounds shortly after the blast Tuesday and one of his aides succumbed in a hospital Wednesday, said Noel Albano, spokesman for House Speaker Jose de Venecia. Also killed were a lawmaker's driver and a legislative staffer. Twelve other people, including two lawmakers, were wounded and expected to recover.

Police said Akbar appeared to have been the target of the remotely detonated explosion, which shattered an entrance to the House of Representatives as lawmakers and their staff were leaving after a session.

Akbar, a former Muslim separatist rebel who became governor of southern Basilan province, joined the extremist Abu Sayyaf group in the 1990s when it had just launched a campaign to set up an Islamic caliphate in the southern Philippines, said metropolitan Manila police chief Geary Barias.

But as the group started attacking Christians, kidnapping for ransom and beheading hostages, Akbar quit and joined U.S.-backed military operations against the militants in Basilan, Barias said.

Two months ago Akbar denied any Abu Sayyaf links, calling such allegations «a lie told a thousand times» by the military, police and his political enemies.

He said the Abu Sayyaf violates Islamic teachings by stealing and by attacking innocent civilians.

Congress members wore black armbands in mourning as de Venecia opened Wednesday's session, denouncing the «dastardly and cowardly attack.

«This wasn't an ordinary explosion _ it was meant to kill and intimidate,» he said. «Democracy and freedom can thrive only when we are determined to fight for it. Today we decide to conduct this session as always to show our resolve.

Officials said the blast was not necessarily an Abu Sayyaf revenge attack.

Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno said the investigation was «pointing away from a terrorist attack and more of a directed assault on a certain individual.» He said there had been threats on Akbar's life.

Akbar had many political foes, including some who ran and lost against one of his three wives, who succeeded him as Basilan governor. Another wife won as mayor of the provincial capital.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has offered a 5 million peso (US$116,000; ¤79,414) reward for information on those behind the bombing, her spokesman Ignacio Bunye said.

A U.S. Embassy statement expressed «shock and dismay,» and offered condolences to victims' families.

It said the United States was ready help the Philippines investigate.

Political rivalries in the southern Philippines are often accompanied by bloodshed, and assassinations of politicians are common.

«Political angle, personal angle, it's too early to discount other possibilities,» Barias said.

Akbar, 47, had said he joined his guerrilla father as a teenager in the Moro National Liberation Front, a Muslim rebel group that dropped its secessionist goal and signed a peace accord with the government in September 1996.

He later took up Islamic studies in Syria, had military training in Libya and became a preacher to the rebels and Basilan's people. He also became an MNLF deputy guerrilla commander.

As Basilan governor in 2002, he welcomed U.S. troops who trained Filipino soldiers battling the Abu Sayyaf. Over the years, the island was gradually transformed from a militant hotbed into a showcase of counterterrorism success and humanitarian development.

Barias said the bomb was hidden on one of two parked motorcycles and then remotely detonated as Akbar approached his car.

Arroyo urged people not to jump to conclusions about the attack. «We're making a call against rumors, accusations that create confusion, fear and conflict,» she said.

The blast occurred amid heightened political tensions in the country as Arroyo faces a third impeachment attempt in as many years.

Associated Press writers Jim Gomez and Hrvoje Hranjski contributed to this report.

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