Police raid suspected al-Qaida-linked training camp in Philippines; 7 arrested

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Originally published Sunday, May 5, 2002

MANILA -- Police said Saturday they raided a suspected training camp linked to al-Qaida and seized several weapons after arresting seven men in a clash nearby.

The clash occurred Thursday in Anda, in Pangasinan province north of Manila, and police found the camp the next day in an Islamic school in a mountainous area in neighboring Tarlac province.

The clash came one day after a gunfight that broke out when police investigating a report of armed men came under fire. One gunman was killed and another was arrested; police say he told them the group had been sent to cause havoc in Tarlac city on the May Day holiday Wednesday.

Those arrested Friday were presented to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo when she visited the police regional command in Pangasinan on Saturday. Police said they were new recruits who had been linked to the gunmen in Wednesday's clash.

The Olympian Copyright 2002

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