November 15, 2002, AP Worldstream, Police step up security at bombing targets after arrest of Abu Sayyaf leader,

November 15, 2002, AP Worldstream, Police step up security at bombing targets after arrest of Abu Sayyaf leader,

Dateline: MANILA, Philippines Security has been heightened around the U.S. Embassy, the Manila stock exchange and other bombing targets after the leader of an al-Qaida linked militant group told authorities attacks were being planned, Philippine police said Friday.

Abdulmukim Edris, the alleged head of the Abu Sayyaf's explosives team, was arrested earlier this week. He told police his group was also planning to attack government installations, shopping malls and at least one road overpass in downtown Manila beginning this month.

National police spokesman Leopoldo Bataoil said Edris had been "very cooperative" in providing information to intelligence agents and that police were working with private security companies to thwart attacks.

They have been asked to watch out for "suspicious looking persons" and unattended packages and to tighten inspection of vehicles at buildings and malls, Bataoil said.

Edris, who has been accused in a string of deadly bombings in the southern Philippines, told investigators one plan had been to drive a bomb-laden vehicle to the U.S. Embassy in Manila, according to an intelligence report.

After parking it outside the heavily guarded compound, the driver would hop on a passing motorcycle ridden by another Abu Sayyaf member. The device would then be detonated, possibly using a cell phone, the report quoted Edris as saying.

Police say that Edris has been linked to at least four bombings in southern Zamboanga city last month that killed 12 people, including an American Green Beret commando, and injured more than 200 others. He faces murder and kidnapping charges.

Edris reportedly told police he and two other Abu Sayyaf members were trained for a month in bomb-making by a Yemeni and another Arab in a camp on southern Basilan island last year.

The two men told Edris to "share" his bomb-making skills with other Abu Sayyaf members. They said they were on their way to Singapore and Malaysia for similar training.

Al-Qaida is thought to have ties with several Islamic militant groups across Asia, including Abu Sayyaf and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in the Philippines, as well as Jemaah Islamiyah, which operates across the region and is suspected of carrying out the Bali bombings last month.