Harbour in the Philippines rocked by bomb

April 02 2003 at 04:46PM

By John O'Callaghan

Manila - A powerful bomb killed up to 15 people near a wharf in the southern Philippines on Wednesday as passengers were getting off a ferry, said police and hospital officials.

Witnesses in the city of Davao - where 22 people were killed by an airport bomb a month ago - said the explosion outside the ferry passenger terminal sprayed the area with blood and caused widespread panic.

One victim was a young boy still clutching a toy. Some of the bodies were covered by sheets of newspaper.

'The MILF vehemently denies any involvement'

"It is a bomb explosion. I believe it is a terrorist attack," said Brigadier-General Eduardo Matillano, head of investigation at the Philippine national police.

Security forces in the mainly Roman-Catholic nation are fighting four rebel groups seeking an Islamic homeland in the south. They are also on alert for reprisals over the United States-led war in Iraq because of Manila's close ties with Washington.

Radio reports said the bomb was hidden in a barbecue stand outside the terminal's main gate.

Police at the scene said there were 13 people dead and 53 wounded. But the Davao Medical Centre issued a statement saying 15 were killed and 44 wounded.

Police said a nun, four policemen and several vendors were among those killed.

National Security Adviser Roilo Golez said it was too early to speculate about who was responsible.

The ferry from Manila to Davao, 900km south of the capital on the restive island of Mindanao, had just docked and passengers were disembarking as the bomb exploded near the terminal building further up the wharf.

Police quickly stepped up security at the airport and other locations in Davao.

On March 4 a suspected bomber - along with an American missionary and 20 other people - was killed in a blast at the airport as crowds sheltered from a rainstorm.

Police have arrest warrants for 151 members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the largest Muslim rebel group with about 12 000 men, in connection with last month's explosion.

The MILF said it was not responsible for the bombing at the airport or the wharf.

"The MILF vehemently denies any involvement," said the group's spokesperson, Eid Kabalu. "We are offering our goodwill assistance in the investigation to manifest our desire to stamp out criminalities like this."

The government and the MILF are working to rekindle sporadic peace talks with the help of Malaysia and Libya, but troops and the guerrillas clash regularly on Mindanao.

Filipino investigators examining the airport bombing, helped by American and Australian forensics experts, are also exploring the potential involvement of Jemaah Islamiah, a south-east Asian group seeking a strict Muslim state.

Indonesian police are looking at a possible Jemaah Islamiah link to bombings on the resort island of Bali in October that killed almost 200 people, nearly half of them Australian tourists.