Jail shoot-out kills Philippine al-qaida suspects

Police fired a barrage of tear-gas canisters and bullets today in a major assault on Muslim suspects who took over a maximum-security jail in Manila, killing at least 17 of them, officials said.

Interior Secretary Angelo Reyes said four leaders of the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf group were among the dead, including two men who headed a botched escape attempt yesterday at the Camp Bagong Diwa facility that left an additional five people dead.