Philippine bombing suspects arrested

The suspects were paraded on national television

Five men arrested in connection with recent bomb attacks in the southern Philippines were "virtually caught in the act" of preparing a new attack, Philippine President Gloria Arroyo has said.

Mrs Arroyo was speaking during a television broadcast which showed the suspects being brought before the media.

Police say the men are members of the militant Islamic group the Abu Sayyaf.

President Arroyo praised the police work

They were brought to the capital Manila after being arrested on Tuesday night.

They are being held on suspicion of involvement in explosions last week in two department stores and at a Catholic shrine in the city of Zamboanga.

Eight people died in the blasts, and more than 150 were injured.

Zamboanga has been the target of a series of bombings since it served as the base of joint US-Philippines military exercises earlier this year.

The arrests come amid heightened security across the region following the 12 October nightclub bombing in Bali, Indonesia, which has also been linked to Muslim extremists.

'Evidence' seized

The five suspects, aged from 18 to 27, have confessed to the bombings, said Chief Superintendent Eduardo Matillano.

He said the group were all Abu Sayyaf members, which is best known for kidnapping for ransom, but whose stated aim is the creation of an Islamic state in the south of the mainly Catholic Philippines.

Police seized from the group a map of Zamboanga, two handguns, explosive chemicals, nails, tools, camouflage uniforms, a bottle of petrol and a diagram showing how to make a car bomb.

They also recovered a baggage tag from Shop-O-Rama department store, the scene of one of the 17 October bombings.

Police said the five suspects were caught based on descriptions given by witnesses who saw them park a bicycle at the entrance of the Catholic shrine soon before Sunday's explosion.

Chief Superintendent Simeon Dizon, regional police commander, said the arrested men told police that their colleagues were behind a bomb on 2 October that killed a US serviceman and three Filipinos.

Philippine officials have linked the Abu Sayyaf group to Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.

However, national police chief Hermogenes Ebdane said police had not yet established a foreign connection to the arrested men.

About 1,000 US troops were in the southern Philippines until July, on a six-month mission to help train Filipino soldiers to fight the Abu Sayyaf.