LEAD: Arrested suspect confesses to US soldier's death, police say

Nov 30, 2011, 11:23 GMT

Manila - A suspect arrested in the Philippines in connection with a bombing that left three people dead and 28 wounded over the weekend has confessed to his involvement in a 2002 attack that killed a United States soldier, police said Wednesday.

Hussein Amajad Ahaddin, 38, was arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of being a member of the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group, which has been blamed for Sunday's powerful explosion in a small hotel in the southern Philippines.

Police chief Felicisimo Khu said Ahaddin, who is also known as Abu Asraf, admitted during questioning to planting a bomb on a motorcycle that killed a US soldier and three Filipinos and injured several others in Zamboanga City, in October 2002.

US troops have been based in southern Philippines since 2001 to help train local forces to hunt Abu Sayyaf after the terrorist group carried out a string of bombings and kidnapping attacks.

James Macasiar, president of the Zamboanga City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the police and military should tighten security in the city's populated areas.

'Even budget hotels are now targets of terrorists. Security experts should think of ways how they can prevent similar attacks,' he said.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines have increased their presence in Zamboanga in the wake of Sunday's bombing.

No one has yet claimed responsibility for the latest blast, though authorities have blamed al-Qaeda linked Abu Sayyaf militants in previous incidents.