The largely Christian city of Davao had escaped much of the violence that plagued

The largely Christian city of Davao had escaped much of the violence that plagued the south, where government forces are fighting four rebel groups seeking an Islamic state.Yesterday’s attack followed an agreement by the Manila government for American troops to join Philippine units fighting Abu Sayyaf, a Muslim separatist guerrilla force linked with the al-Qa’ida terrorist network. The blast demolished the shelter, 15 yards from the airport’s international terminal. Edgar Aglipay, deputy chief of the national police, told a Manila radio station it was caused by a bomb in a backpack The injured, many hit by shrapnel, included small children. One hospital alone reported 91 casualties.Shortly afterwards, a home-made bomb killed one person and wounded three others outside a health centre in the town of Tagum, about 18 miles north of Davao.An airport security official said the bomb rocked the front of the terminal, smashing windows and causing considerable damage Pieces of metal were strewn across the road. “It happened a few minutes after a Cebu Pacific [a local airline] flight arrived, and people packed the waiting area,” he said “There were many people killed.

I saw six persons killed on the spot.”The government condemned the bomb attack, and President Gloria Arroyo called an emergency meeting of the cabinet committee on internal security. Her spokesman, Ignacio Bunye, said President Arroyo “strongly condemns the Davao bombing as a brazen act of terrorism which shall not go unpunished”.There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the military has blamed the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) – the nation’s second-biggest Muslim rebel group – for a string of terrorist acts on the island, including a car-bombing at Cotabato airport in which one woman was killed and 10 people wounded.The MILF denied involvement yesterday. Lieutenant-Colonel Daniel Lucero, a military spokesman, said: “We are still looking for the mastermind of this bombing attack and we are investigating the type of explosive used.”. Iraq times its co-operation with the United Nations weapons inspectors to coincide with the run-up to Security Council meetings, Hans Blix will say in his report this week, according to senior UN sources. It is expected to say that the flow of information about its alleged chemical and biological weaponry has varied, depending on whether Security Council meetings were imminent.

The UN monitors do not accept that Iraq has been totally candid on its weapons, and they think more information will come out. But they believe the inspection system is working, and should be allowed to continue.Mr Blix will meet Dimitri Perricos, the head of Unmovic (the UN Monitoring and Verification Commission), in New York today on his return from Baghdad. The report is not due to be finished until midnight tomorrow and Mr Blix will peruse it overnight before presenting it to the UN on Friday in what is seen as a meeting that will pave the way either for war, or for the inspections to continue.”He is going to be very careful with his words, because he knows that some countries will want to use them to suit their purpose,” said the UN source. “There is no doubt that this is a critical week.”A draft copy of Mr Blix’s report, which surfaced last week, said results on Iraq’s disarmament had so far been “very limited”. Senior officials said they believe this may have delayed an invasion by weeks..