Philippine suspects caught building bomb

The suspects were paraded in front of the media by Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo

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They were virtually caught in the act of preparing for the next bombing -- Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo SPECIAL In-depth: Terror in the Philippines  TIMELINE Hostage crises in the Philippines

MANILA, Philippines (CNN) -- Five men have been arrested as suspects in a series of deadly bombings in the southern Philippines, apparently while building a bomb for a new attack, officials say.

The men, named by police as members of the Islamic guerrilla group Abu Sayyaf, were arrested Tuesday afternoon as they were allegedly constructing a device intended for a fourth attack in the predominantly Christian city of Zamboanga.

The suspects were flown to Manila Wednesday where, in a ceremony before the cameras of the media, they were presented to Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo by Zamboanga's mayor.

"They were virtually caught in the act of preparing for the next bombing," Arroyo said during a televised ceremony before the media.

She added her congratulations to "the intelligence people" who had helped uncover the plot and track down the group.

According to the Philippine National Police Commission the men, all Filipino Muslims between the ages of 18-27, were arrested in a house surrounded by bomb-making materials and other items including a map of Zamboanga city.

The group is thought to have been involved in three separate bomb attacks in Zamboanga.

Baggage ticket clue

On Sunday a Philippine marine died and 19 others were wounded when explosives packed inside a bicycle frame detonated outside a Roman Catholic shrine.

Days earlier on October 17, two explosions in Zamboanga's central shopping district killed seven people and wounded 16.

According to police a baggage claim ticket from a department store where one of the explosions occurred was found inside the house where the five men were arrested.

Police say they believe a bomb was planted in a bag and checked into the claim area, where customers leave their bags before shopping.

Another blast at the beginning of the month, also in Zamboanga, killed four people, including a U.S. Green Beret commando, and injured two dozen others.

Speaking to reporters Wednesday Superintendent Eduardo Matillano, director of the Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group said the men had effectively admitted to carrying out the attacks.

"There was an admission on their part that they were responsible for the bombing," he said, without elaborating.

Evidence

Explosives packed inside a bicycle frame detonated outside a Roman Catholic shrine in Zamboanga on Sunday

During the arrests police also seized two .45 caliber handguns from the men, a manual on making car bombs and a receipt for the purchase of the bicycle believed to have been used in the shrine bombing.

Other items confiscated as evidence included a crucifix and religious pamphlets that police said were used for the shrine bombing operation, a bicycle tool, a map of Zamboanga and unspecified white powder in plastic bags.

Also found were alarm clocks and cell phones that police said could have been used to build timing devices and triggers for further bombs.

Zamboanga officials said the apartment had been rented on October 9 and that up to nine people had been seen there at nighttime meetings. Several cell phones and alarm clocks were recovered, along with plastic bottles filled with gasoline.

The men are mostly from Basilan Island, off the coast of Zamboanga Island.

Basilan is a stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf -- a group which intelligence officials say has ties to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda terrorist network.

Earlier this year, about 1,000 American troops and Special Forces spent six months in the southern Philippines in counter-terrorism exercises aimed at helping the Philippine military fight the Abu Sayyaf.

Meanwhile, authorities say they have yet to ascertain who might be behind a bus explosion last Friday outside the capital Manila, which killed two people and wounded at least 19 others.

Philippines investigators have noted that the blast had similarities to a spate of bombings in Metro Manila in 2000, now being linked to the Indonesian group Jemaah Islamiah -- a group also thought to have links with al Qaeda.

Police say they believe the bus bomb may have been set off using a cell phone as a triggering device.

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