MANILA, 31 May 2008 — Muslim rebels negotiating peace with the government strongly denied yesterday police allegations they were behind a deadly bombing in Zamboanga City.
Three people were killed and more than a dozen others injured in Thursday blast just outside the Philippine Air Force base.
Regional police chief Jaime Caringal blamed the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which is fighting for independence, as behind the attack, an accusation the rebel group denies.
“We have nothing to do with the attack. This could be the handiwork of anti-government groups or even people in the government to paint a scenario of chaos and terror and then put the blame on us,” Eid Kabalu, a rebel spokesman, said.
Local police are still investigating the attack, but radio reports had quoted unnamed officials as saying that the Abu Sayyaf could be involved in the bombing.
Police said the bomb was left outside the building that houses a military mutual fund, the headquarters of a local politician and an office of the US Agency for International Development.
Peace talks were stalled last year after Manila rejected MILF demands for ancestral lands in the southern Philippines. The MILF said government peace negotiators reneged on a previous deal granting Muslims their ancestral domain.
