Explosives Found Near Summit Site

Five days before President Clinton and 17 other world leaders are to meet in the Philippines, police discovered a pipe bomb, hand grenades and a timing device in two of the nation’s most sensitive places: Manila airport and the chief site for the leaders’ summit.

The discovery of the devices Wednesday overshadowed meetings of lower-level officials in advance of the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. At one session, the United States failed to win full endorsement for a proposal to abolish tariffs on computers and other information technology products.

Police at Manila airport found a travel bag in the arrival area that contained several grenades and a timing device, airport security guard Mutalib Abduladjid said. Another grenade was found inside the airport at a hotel transportation desk.

Earlier in the day, a bomb was discovered by a pay phone a few hundred feet from the main gate of Subic Bay Freeport, a former U.S. naval base west of Manila where summit meetings are to be held.

Richard Gordon, head of Subic, said the bomb was part of a drill few people were told about--including himself. It was conducted by the Philippine Presidential Security Group to test security preparations, and the bomb did not have a blasting cap, he said.

However, air force Capt. Ruben Carandang, who is assigned to the Presidential Security Group at Subic, said he was unaware of a bomb drill.

“We don’t conduct bomb drills because it will scare people,” he said.

A U.S. official traveling with Clinton confirmed that the pipe bomb was a training exercise by the Philippine security. It remained unclear whether the grenades were also part of the drill.

While none of the explosives went off, the incidents raised new concern about terrorism and safety precautions for the APEC meetings in the capital and at the former base, now an industrial and tourist center.

Philippine authorities have assembled a 26,000-member security force to protect Clinton, Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, Chinese President Jiang Zemin and the other leaders.