Blast in Philippine Congress building kills Muslim lawmaker Wahab Akbar

www.chinaview.cn 2007-11-13 20:42:01 Print

MANILA, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) --

A blast occurred near an entrance lobby of the Philippine House of Representatives complex on Tuesday night soon after a Congress session, killing two people, including a lawmaker, while wounding nearly a dozen others, police investigators said.

The police said the blast occurred at about 8:15 p.m. at the southern wing of Batasan Pambansa, the Congress complex, in Quezon City of the Philippine capital region. The ceiling of the lobby was partially destroyed while a vehicle parked outside the building was engulfed by blaze. The explosion also left a three-foot crater, giving rise to suspicion that it was a bomb attack.

The police revealed late Tuesday night that lawmaker Wahab Akbar, who was injured in the blast, had passed away in the hospital.

Akbar was the second fatality in the blast. National Capital Region Police Office chief Geary Barias said the driver of lawmaker Luzviminda Ilagan earlier had died in the blast scene. Ilagan, Negros Oriental Rep. Henry Teves and more than half a dozen Congress staff were injured.

Local television network ABS-CBN News said Akbar will be flown to his hometown, southern Philippine region of Basilan Wednesday morning, and will be buried within 24 hours.

Reports said Negros Oriental Rep. Henry Teves is still in critical condition after sustaining severe blast injuries and burns. He has been transferred to a major hospital where his relatives were with him, according to ABS-CBN.

Ilagan, the injured congresswoman, however, was out of danger after treatment in the hospital.

Barias said the blast could be meant to hurt congressmen as it occurred barely after the adjournment of a session.

Police investigators are still probing the cause of the blast but suspect an improvised explosive device could be hidden in a motorcycle that parked near the Congress complex lobby and was remotely detonated.

The police chief said Akbar, a former governor of Basilan province in Mindanao, the stronghold of the violent rebel group Abu Sayyaf, could be the most likely target of the bombing, as the explosive went off near Akbar's Fortuner car which parked near the lobby of Congress building's south wing.

Akbar once confided to a Xinhua stringer that so many people wanted to kill him, including his rival politicians in Basilan and the Abu Sayyaf group, some of whose members who surrendered to him and the government security forces had already been slain by their former comrades.

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Tuesday night promptly ordered National Police chief Director General Avelino Razon to personally supervise the investigation on the incident. Razon was asked to "submit periodic reports as warranted," according to Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye.

Metro Manila has been placed on full alert following the blast. Security around the Senate has particularly been upgraded. On late Tuesday, police also put central and southern Luzon island, where the capital region was based, in high alert as the region is likely entry and exit point for the perpetrators.

Editor: Bi Mingxin

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