Philippines: 3 men charged - al Qaeda linked

  •     Philippine police escort three suspected bombers at the Department of Justice in Manila November 19, 2007. Philippine police filed murder charges before the justice department on Monday against three men believed to be behind the deadly blast that killed a Muslim lawmaker and three people at Congress. REUTERS/Cheryl Ravelo (PHILIPPINES)

    Philippine police escort three suspected bombers at the Department of Justice in Manila …

    Reuters via Yahoo! News - Nov 18 11:06 PM
  •     Philippine police direct a suspected bomber to a table at the Department of Justice in Manila November 19, 2007. Philippine police filed murder charges before the justice department on Monday against three men believed to be behind the deadly blast that killed a Muslim lawmaker and three people at Congress. REUTERS/Cheryl Ravelo (PHILIPPINES)

    Philippine police direct a suspected bomber to a table at the Department of Justice in Manila …

    Reuters via Yahoo! News - Nov 18 10:46 PM
  •     Philippine police escort three suspected bombers (in yellow shirts) at the Department of Justice in Manila November 19, 2007. Philippine police filed murder charges before the justice department on Monday against three men believed to be behind the deadly blast that killed a Muslim lawmaker and three people at Congress. REUTERS/Cheryl Ravelo (PHILIPPINES)

    Philippine police escort three suspected bombers at the Department of Justice in Manila …

    Reuters via Yahoo! News - Nov 18 10:43 PM
http://malaysia.news.yahoo.com/ap/20071117/tap-as-gen-philippines-explosion-fe2a5de.html

Sunday, November 18

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine police said Saturday they will file murder charges against three men allegedly involved in a deadly bombing outside the country's Congress that killed a lawmaker and three other people.

The men were arrested Thursday after authorities raided a house to serve an arrest warrant for kidnapping against Pakir Said, a suspected member of the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf group. Said and two others were killed in a shootout, while the three other men surrendered.

Senior Superintendent Asher Dolina, chief of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group for metropolitan Manila, said the three men would be charged with multiple murder in connection with Tuesday's bombing that killed Rep. Wahab Akbar of Basilan and three congressional staffers.

Akbar was once allegedly a member of Abu Sayyaf but later turned against it.

Officers who searched the house following Thursday's raid found a deed of sale for the motorcycle allegedly used in the bombing, metropolitan Manila police chief Geary Barias said.

National police Director General Avelino Razon said the discovery of the deed of sale and other evidence linked to the bombing was a major break in the investigation.