Al-Qaida-linked bomber held in Philippines

Philippine authorities have captured an alleged al Qaida-linked bomber suspected over at least six attacks, including a 2002 karaoke bar explosion which killed an American Green Beret and a hotel blast that killed three people, officials said today.

Police and military intelligence officers arrested Hussein Ahaddin at a hide-out of the Abu Sayyaf rebel force in the southern city of Zamboanga late yesterday.

Ahaddin, who uses the guerrilla name Abu Tiih, belonged to an urban-based group of Abu Sayyaf fighters behind bombings and extortion, Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr said.

Mr Ochoa, who heads the government’s anti-terrorism council, said authorities have panned out in search of Ahaddin’s companions hiding in Zamboanga city, a bustling port city 540 miles (860km) south of Manila.

The Abu Sayyaf was founded on Basilan in the early 1990s as an offshoot of a violent Muslim insurgency that has been raging for decades. US-backed Philippine offensives have weakened the group, which is blacklisted by Washington as a terrorist organisation, but it remains a key security threat.

Ahaddin has been implicated in six attacks, the latest of which was a powerful blast that killed three people, wounded 27 others and destroyed the Atilano Pension House on Sunday near Zamboanga city, he said.

The Abu Sayyaf has about 380 armed fighters and survives mostly on extortion and kidnappings for ransom. Al-Qaida is believed to have provided funds and training to the group, which is notorious for deadly bombings, kidnappings and beheadings.