Military

DATE=7/16/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=PHILIPPINES BOMB (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-264459
BYLINE=KONRAD MULLER
DATELINE=MANILA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
//Editors - Watch for changing casualty figures and 
adjust accordingly in the intro//
INTRO: A bomb explosion has ripped through a crowded 
public market on the main southern Philippine island 
of Mindanao, killing at least two people and injuring 
33. As Konrad Muller reports from Manila, the prime 
suspect is the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which is 
fighting for an independent Islamic state in the 
country's south.
TEXT: The lethal blast exploded in Kabacan town Sunday 
morning, on the main shopping day for this 
predominantly Christian town, located almost one-
thousand kilometers south of Manila. 
Military sources say the device was improvised from an 
81 millimeter mortar shell. It was powerful. Many of 
the wounded are hospitalized and in serious condition. 
The military also
says the country's leading Muslim separatist group, 
the Moro Islamic Liberation Front is suspected of 
being the perpetrator.  An MILF spokesman said his 
group was not responsible because it would not want to 
injure so many civilians. 
However, only last week, the Islamic Front's Chairman, 
Hashim Salamat, called on Muslims in the troubled 
south to embark upon a jihad, or struggle, against the 
central government. The Front's main
base had earlier been abandoned to the Philippine army 
after several days of intense aerial and artillery 
bombardment.
Since April, hostilities have escalated between the 
military and the Front, estimated to have some 15-
thousand guerrillas. More than
half a million people have been displaced and dozens 
left dead, in the worst fighting seen in the southern 
Philippines since the 1970's.
Manila has repeatedly accused the rebels of terror. 
Arrest warrants were issued Tuesday, against members 
of the Front's political leadership over eight 
bombings that killed one person and injured 41 in 
nearby General Santos City last month. The Front 
typically has rejected accusations of terrorism. 
(Signed)
NEB/KM/PLM
16-Jul-2000 05:50 AM EDT (16-Jul-2000 0950 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.