| PHILIPPINE
MILITARY TIGHTENS SECURITY AFTER CHEMICAL DISCOVERY The Philippine military have
tightened security in the southern port city of Zamboanga after troops intercepted a load
of chemicals used by Muslim rebels in making explosives.
The military's southern command
Chief of Staff, Colobel Ernesto de Guzman, said some 25 kilogrammes of ammonium nitrate
was seized on board a ferry travelling to Basilan Island.
Basilan Island is a base of the
extremist Abu Sayyaf rebel group, which is holding eight people hostage there.
Ammonium nitrate is often used
by both the Abu Sayyaf and the larger Moro Islamic Liberation Front to make bombs used in
attacking targets in the country.
No one has been arrested so
far.
Colonel de Guzman said extra
precaution had also been taken in Zamboanga and nearby provinces, against bomb attacks by
both rebel groups.
Extra soldiers have also been
deployed at the city's wharf, and an army special unit is to escort ferries crossing over
to Basilan.
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