Manila bombings: 17 held

Security was tightened in Manila after the blasts

Philippines police have detained 17 Muslim men in connection with five lethal bomb blasts which rocked the capital Manila on Saturday.

Police raided homes in Culiat, a mainly Muslim neighbourhood in northern Manila. Officials said some firearms were seized from the suspects.

More than 120 people were injured

The Manila bombs killed 22 people and injured 124, according to figures released by the National Disaster Co-ordinating Council.

Nobody has claimed responsibility for the bomb blasts. The country's two main Muslim rebel groups - the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Abu Sayyaf - denied involvement in the attacks.

'Motive established'

National police chief Panfilo Lacson said a motive had been established for the bombings which were "definitely not connected with the impeachment trial" of President Joseph Estrada in the Senate.

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He warned that the bombers still had plans to attack other urban centres.

National police spokesman Nicanor Bartolome said there were indications that the Manila bombs had been triggered by cellular phones.

Parts of mobile phones were recovered at the site of at least two of the bombings, he said, adding that the bombs were all made of similar materials, including trinitrotoluene (TNT).

Government officials speculated that various organisations could have been responsible, including communists and Muslim separatists.

Meanwhile, some opposition figures suggested the bombs were part of a government plot to prevent Congress from removing President Estrada from office on corruption charges.

The president, who has already been impeached by the House of Representatives, will be forced to step down if found guilty at his corruption trial.

After a wave of bomb blasts in Manila shopping malls last year police arrested 26 Muslim men, whom it said were members of the MILF, which is fighting to set up a separate state in the southern Philippines.