Philippine Bombing Suspect Held

Philippine police have captured a leader of a militant Muslim group who was preparing to use truck bombs to attack the stock exchange, shopping malls and foreign embassies in Manila, the government said Thursday.

Abdulmukim Edris, the alleged head of the Abu Sayyaf group’s explosives team, has been accused in at least four bombings last month in the southern city of Zamboanga that killed 12 people, including a U.S. Green Beret.

Edris was captured Tuesday in the Manila suburb of Pasay, military Chief of Staff Gen. Benjamin Defensor said.

Edris reportedly told police his team planned to use trucks loaded with containers of ammonium nitrate and activated by cell phone to bomb targets in Manila beginning this month.

Edris received training making car bombs from two Yemenis he described as being “from Al Qaeda,” a police officer said.