RP Troops Hunt Escaped Bomber, 3 Others In Troubled South

Prison officials inspect the compound of the Maguindanao provincial jail on Sunday, 10 December 2006, after gunmen storm the facility, springing a Moro rebel linked by RP authoritiies to an airport bomb attack in 2003 in Awang town. One jail guard is wounded in the raid. (Mindanao Examiner/Mark Navales)

COTABATO CITY (Juan Magtanggol / 10 Dec) - Philippine authorities tightened security on Sunday as troops mounted a massive search for 4 men, one of them a Moro rebel, who escaped from a prison facility in Cotabato City in the troubled southern region, officials said.

Officials said three men, armed with assault weapons, stormed the provincial prison on Saturday afternoon and sprang Badrudin Dalungan, a member of the separatist rebel group, Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), a suspect in the bombing of the Awang airport near Cotabato in 2003.

"Troops are helping police forces track down the four men. They are armed and dangerous and civilians should immediately report to authorities if they see these people," Lt. Col. Julieto Ando, a spokesman for the Army's 6th Infantry Division, told the Mindanao Examiner.

Ando said one prison guard was wounded in the attack.

A rebel spokesman Eid Kabalu has admitted that Dalungan was a member of the MILF, but said the group was unaware of his escape.

He said the MILF is willing to help authorities find Dalungan and negotiate for his surrender. "We are willing to help if the government asks our assistance," he said in a separate interview.

Authorities said one person was killed in the airport bombing that was also blamed by the government to the radical Rajah Solaiman group.

The Philippine military said some MILF commanders allegedly sheltered the Rajah Solaiman militants in Mindanao, but this was denied by the rebel group, which is currently negotiating peace with Manila.

Last year, the chieftain of the Rajah Solaiman group, Ahmed Santos, was arrested in Zamboanga City and authorities linked him to the spate of bombings in Manila and Mindanao. Santos denied all the charges. (With a report from Mark Navales/Mindanao Examiner)