MAKATI CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Oct. 20, 2007) – a Filipino militant group allied with the Indonesian terrorist Jemaah Islamiya and the Abu Sayyaf has claimed responsibility Saturday for the deadly bombing of a shopping center in the Philippine financial district of Makati City.
Police and the Red Cross said at least 9 people were killed and 129 others wounded in the blast at the Glorieta Mall on Friday.
A man, Sheik Omar, who claimed to be a spokesman for the Rajah Solaiman Movement (RSM) contacted the television network ABS-CBN to say that his group was behind the attack.
In a cell phone text message to ABS-CBN, the man also relayed their demand for the release of their leader Hilario del Rosario III, also known as Ahmed Islam Santos.
Del Rosario, captured in October 2006 at a hideout in Zamboanga city in southern Philippines, was the head of the RSM, a group of Christians who converted to Islam and with suspected links to the Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiya.
Police said it is investigating whether the RSM was behind the blast. “We are still investigating this claim, but the RSM has no more capability to carry such attack,” said Geary Barias, the chief of the metropolitan police force.
Del Rosario was also implicated in the February 2004 bombing of a Super Ferry ship that killed 116 people. It was the second worst terrorist attack in Asia. The group was also implicated in plots to attack the US embassy and American nationals. (Mindanao Examiner)
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