August 20, 2005

Bomb Plot to Blow Up U.S. Embassy in Manila Thwarted, Suspect Free on Bail

A bomb plot by an al Qaeda linked group in the Phillipines was foiled earlier in March of this year but the details are just beginning to come out. Other targets included the British and Australian embassies. Note that the suspect is free on bail.

Manila Standard:

Authorities earlier this year thwarted a plot by Islamic militants to mount a truck bomb attack on the US embassy in Manila, National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales told AFP yesterday. The plot by the Jemaah Islamiyah would have involved "an attack on the US embassy using a 1,000 kg truck bomb," Gonzales said in an interview.

He said the explosives were recovered after Daud Santos, a Muslim convert who is allegedly a member of the JI-linked Abu Sayyaf Group, was arrested in a police raid in Manila in March.

Also eyed as targets were the embassies of Australia and Britain, key antiterror allies of the United States, Gonzales said. He said Santos is now free on bail, highlighting Manila's failure to pass an antiterrorist law that would enable the government to hold terrorist suspects for longer periods.

By Rusty Shackleford, Ph.D. at 05:46 PM | |