Officials say plot foiled to kill president
Philippines security officials reported uncovering plots to kill President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and bomb foreign embassies, just as opposition leaders were calling for more protests urging the unpopular leader to resign.
Brig. Gen. Romeo Prestoza, head of the Presidential Security Group, said the Abu Sayyaf group and its allies were behind the attack plans.
Few details were announced. That sparked opposition claims the government was using scare tactics in hope of curtailing an anti-Arroyo demonstration today in Manila’s financial district and a Sunday prayer rally involving the Roman Catholic Church and former President Corazon Aquino.
The military chief of staff, Gen. Hermogenes Esperon, said the assassination plot reportedly involved a sniper. Arroyo’s plan to visit the Philippines’ premier military academy this weekend in the northern city of Baguio was canceled, Prestoza said.
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