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Philippines security forces arrest Islamic bomb expert, foil shopping mall bombings

MANILA -- Security forces in the Philippineshave captured an alleged bomb maker trained by the Jemaah Islmiyah terror network, thwarting a plot to bomb shopping malls and other targets in the capital, officials said Monday.

Police Chief Superintendent Roberto Rosales said Filipino Kaharudin Usman Talib was arrested Friday in a shopping mall in Taguig city, a suburban district of Manila.

Followup operations on Saturday in a rented house in Taguig's Muslim enclave, Maharlika Village, resulted in the seizure of a bomb fashioned from a 60 mm mortar filled with suspected C4 plastic explosives and other material, he added.

"This powerful improvised explosive had complete components but was still unarmed when found by our agents," said Rosales, director of the police district covering southern metropolitan Manila.

The arrest and bomb discovery were "a major blow to the JI cell operating in the country," he added.

Rosales described Talib as the righthand man of JI leader Zulkifli bin Hir, who goes by the alias Marwan, and another Filipino extremist, Basit Usman.

//The Jakarta Post/Indonesia

Asia News Network (ANN)

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Philippines security forces arrest Islamic bomb expert, foil shopping mall bombings

MANILA -- Security forces in the Philippineshave captured an alleged bomb maker trained by the Jemaah Islmiyah terror network, thwarting a plot to bomb shopping malls and other targets in the capital, officials said Monday.

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