ZAMBOANGA — Police in the southern Philippines said Sunday they had arrested three members of the Al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group and thwarted a bomb attack. Intelligence operatives intercepted the men Thursday night on the island of Basilan, a known hotbed of the extremists, regional police said in a statement. Police said they seized two motorcycles, one of which was rigged with explosives, as well as handguns. They said the three allegedly planned to set off the bomb in a heavy populated urban area. The suspects were members of a squad responsible for carrying out sabotage attacks to divert military and police attention as other members stage kidnappings, police said. The Abu Sayyaf is a small group of militants blamed for the country's worst terrorist attacks. The group is also behind a series of high-profile kidnappings of foreign and local tourists as well as businessmen. It is on the US government's list of foreign terrorist organizations. A number of American advisers have been rotating in the southern Philippines for the past decade helping local counterparts to try to crush the group. A number of foreign hostages are believed held by the Abu Sayyaf in the south, including two European bird-watchers seized in February and an Australian abducted last December. — AP
