| Large-scale terrorist attack foiled in the Philippines Yesterday, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo announced on national television to stunned citizens that the country's security forces had foiled a terrorist attack "comparable in scale to the March 11 Madrid bombings." According to the president, intelligence services discovered a cache of 36 kg of TNT, which terrorists planned to use for explosions in shopping centers and railway stations in the Philippine capital of Manila.
Four people were arrested on suspicion of involvement in preparing a terrorist attack, and all law enforcement agencies in the country were mobilized to search for the criminals who managed to escape. The head of state believes that the tragedy was planned by the Islamist extremist group Abu Sayyaf. According to intelligence services, one of those arrested admitted to belonging to this organization.
Abu Sayyaf operates in the Muslim south of the Philippines (the majority of the country's population is Catholic) and seeks the creation of an Islamic state there. The Philippines and the United States have listed the group as a terrorist organization. The Americans link her to the international terrorist network Al-Qaeda. However, so far the separatists from Abu Sayyaf have not carried out large-scale terrorist actions. They prefer to fight against government troops on the territory of their stronghold - the island of Mindanao, and also kidnap foreigners and demand ransom for them.
It is possible that another terrorist group, Al-Jamaah Al-Islamiya, is involved in the preparation of the terrorist attack in Manila. This southeastern branch of al-Qaeda aims to overthrow the governments of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand in order to create a single theocratic state in their place. Alexander SAMOKHOTKIN |
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