Man held over Kidapawan blasts released; police suspect militants

MANILA (AP) - A Filipino man who was detained after twin explosions killed two children and wounded two dozen others in a southern city has been released for a lack of evidence, police said Monday.

National police chief Avelino Razon said he suspected al-Qaida-linked Jemaah Islamiyah militants were responsible, and a military explosives expert said the devices used in the attacks may have borne the signatures of a terrorist organization.

The man was picked up shortly after the almost simultaneous explosions shattered vehicles and stalls in front of a department store in Kidapawan city Friday, killing a 10-year-old girl and her cousin, also a child, police said.

About 30 other people were wounded, several with severe leg injuries.

The man was released over the weekend after authorities failed to link him to the bombings, said Kidapawan police chief Leo Agero.

Army Capt. Romeo Noriega, who collected evidence that was being analyzed with the help of U.S. military personnel on a training mission in the southern Philippines, said the first bomb was composed of a 61 mm mortar shell attached to a battery and a mobile phone as a detonator.

"Generally, it's the work of a terrorist organization," he said.

Authorities earlier speculated the bombs may have been planted by the Al-Khobar extortion gang, which has links to Muslim militants and has been blamed for a series of bus bombings in recent months.

Key operatives of Southeast Asia's Jemaah Islamiyah network are believed hiding in the south, including Dulmatin and Umar Patek, who have long been hunted by U.S., Philippine and Indonesian authorities for allegedly helping mastermind the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings that killed 202 people.