Bombing Kills 1, Injures 7 In Southern Philippines

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Jan. 03, 2008) – A homemade bomb explosion ripped through a night club late Thursday and killed at least one person in the southern Philippines, police and military reports said.

At least seven people, mostly women, were also wounded in the 8.30 p.m. blast believed triggered by a bomb left in the bar called “Pama” in Cotabato City in Maguindanao, one of five provinces in the strife-torn Muslim autonomous region.

No group or individual claimed responsibility for the attack, but the city, the seat of the regional government, has been previously bombed many times. “We are awaiting reports,” Lt. Col. Julieto Ando, a regional army spokesman, told the Mindanao Examiner.

Last month, government agents arrested an Egyptian cleric, Mohammad Al-Sayed and seized from his hideout in Cotabato City assorted explosives. The foreigner was freed two days later after the Egyptian Embassy interceded for his release. (With reports from Juan Magtanggol and Mark Navales)