Efforts stepped up to thwart terrorist attacks

Philippines police are taking a higher public profile as parts of efforts to thwart possible attacks following the arrest of Southeast Asia’s top terrorist suspect, President Arroyo said yesterday. "The Philippines is ready to thwart any possible terrorist attack," Mrs. Arroyo said in a statement. "We are bolstering police visibility and target hardening of vital installations and public places."

Mrs. Arroyo also cited continuing efforts to dismantle "terrorist lairs and cells" in the southern Philippines where foreign terror groups like the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) and al-Qaeda are believed to have forged links with local Muslim militants.

She also cited the "direct information and intelligence exchange" between the Philippines and its neighbors in Southeast Asia.

Manila has previously warned that the Jemaah Islamiyah network could mount retaliatory action after the capture earlier this month of Riduan Isamuddin alias Hambali, an ally of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and the former operations chief of JI.

Philippine troops have been hunting down escaped JI bomb-maker Fathur Rohman al-Ghozi in the southern Philippines in recent weeks but the military suspects he is being protected by domestic Muslim rebel groups.

Al-Ghozi embarrassed the government when he escaped from the national police headquarters jail in Manila last month, triggering a security alert throughout Southeast Asia. — AFP, Marichu Villanueva