Philippines President Gloria Arroyo has ordered new security measures, including curfews, following a wave of deadly bombings.

 President Arroyo called the series of bomb blasts that struck the city of General Santos on Sunday, "a crime against the Filipino people."
 
 

AP
Philippine investigators survey the damage at a department store in General Santos, which was rocked by a bomb explosion that killed 14 people Sunday

 Two suspects have been arrested in connection with the bombing. Police say the two belong to the Muslim separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front. However, a man claiming to be a spokesman for the Muslim guerrilla group Abu Sayyaf said in a radio interview that his group was responsible for the bombings. Other members of Abu Sayyaf say they have no knowledge of the bomb attacks.

 General Santos, which is a largely Christian city among the predominantly Muslim southern provinces of Mindanao, is about 350 kilometers from the island of Basilan, where American troops are training Philippine forces in counter-terrorism techniques against the Abu Sayyaf group.

 U.S. authorities say the group has links to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terrorist network.

 Meanwhile, hundreds of U.S. troops have arrived at the former American naval bast at Subic Bay, near Manila, to participate with local forces in joint military exercises.

 The maneuvers, known as Balikatan 2002, bring together more than 5,000 troops from both countries and are aimed at improving combat readiness in combined operations.
 
 

Some information for this report provided by AP and Reuters.

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