Philippines hunts militants as fears rise it may be next target

The Philippines could become the next target of a lethal bomb attack, lawmakers and stock traders feared yesterday, as authorities stepped up the hunt for four people linked to the militant Jemaah Islamiah.

National police intelligence chief Roberto Delfin said he believed two foreigners and two Filipinos 'still have plans [for new attacks] and we are monitoring their activities. We believe they are part of Jemaah Islamiah'.

Indonesian authorities have blamed Saturday's Bali bombings on the militant regional network of Jemaah Islamiah.

Senior Superintendent Delfin said the four, whom he did not name, were involved in a series of bombings in Manila in December 2000 that killed 22 people and wounded more than 100.

Indonesian national Fathur Rohman al-Ghozi, who was tried and convicted this year for those bombings, admitted being a Jemaah Islamiah member and to having bought the explosives.

In his signed confession, made available to the South China Morning Post, he named his accomplices only as Muklis, of the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Paks and Salman, who worked for Muklis, and Solaiman, from Sumatra. All are still at large.

Ghozi also disclosed training at the front's camp in Mindanao in 1997 and 1998. Authorities are now looking at the possibility that those who have carried out a series of bombings in Indonesia also trained there.