Filipino security forces foiled a bomb plot in the restive southern Philippines ahead of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's visit, officials said on Tuesday.
Troops recovered and defused an improvised booby-trap bomb left by unidentified men in the town of Datu Odin Sinsuat, Shariff Kabunsuan Province on Monday, said town police Chief inspector Dante Mama.
President Arroyo is scheduled to arrive on Thursday at the headquarters of 6th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army in the same town, where she will hold a press briefing with reporters.
Last week, Philippine soldiers recovered a powerful improvised bomb planted by suspected Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels under a bridge in the township of Shariff Aquak, Maguindanao Province.
Peace talks between the government and the MILF, the largest rebel group in the country, were suspended in August last year, when the rebels launched a spate of attacks across Mindanao that left scores dead and hundreds of thousands of civilians displaced.
But Lieutenant Colonel Julieto Ando, civil military affairs of 6th Infantry Division, said the MILF rebels had nothing to do with the plot.
"Based on our initial investigation, the motive was extortion ,"Ando told reporters.
Source:Xinhua
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