Philippine Catholic bishops condemn bombing of Muslim mosques

Influential Roman Catholic bishops have condemned the bombings of three Muslim mosques in the southern Philippines, warning it could fan religious conflict in the already strife-torn region.

The mosque bombings were staged in Davao city Thursday just after a terrorist bomb attack at a nearby wharf that left 16 dead and some 50 others injured.

No one has claimed responsibility for the bombings but officials in this predominantly-Christian nation believe the mosque attacks could be in retaliation for the deadly blast at Sasa Wharf.

"As I condemn in the strongest terms the bombing at Sasa Wharf that killed numerous innocent civilians and injured many more, so I condemn most strongly the bombing of three mosques," said Archbishop Orlando Quevedo, the head of the Roman Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines.

"The bombing of sacred places like mosques is meant to inflame religious sentiments and biases and aims to inject a religious dimension into a conflict that is primarily political and economic," he said.

Quevedo also urged "restraint and sobriety" among members of the Catholic and Muslim communities in Davao, the commercial hub of the main southern island of Mindanao.

President Gloria Arroyo shortly after the bombing ordered a massive police-military crackdown on all terrorist groups and criminal elements in Davao, which she said had been placed under a state of "lawless violence"

"The president will not let terrorists succeed in turning Davao into a city ruled by fear," her spokesman, Ignacio Bunye, said in Manila Friday.

"Meantime, the president asks for a strong inter-faith solidarity, unity and forbearance. There is no way we can win against terror if there are ethnic and religious barriers among our people," he said.