Philippines tense in bomb probe

　　Philippine authorities combed wreckage, drew a comp osite sketch and manned a tip hot line as they searched for suspects in five explosions that killed at least 14 people and left the nation on edge.

　　Jittery (战战兢兢的) residents in Manila (菲律宾首都马尼拉) celebrated a subdued New Year's Eve amid a heavy police pre sence, grin (严酷的) media images of mangled bodies and th e fear of more attacks. Embattled (严阵以待的) President Jos eph Estrada faced growing anger from opposition groups.

　　No one has claimed responsibility for the explosion s on Dec.30, 2000, which hit a train, a bus, a gas stat ion, a park and Manila's international airport. More th an 100 people were injured.

　　Estrada's Senate impeachment (弹劾) trial on corrupti on charges was in recess for the holidays, but was to r esume soon. He denied opposition claims that he would u se the bombings as an excuse to declare martial law.

　　The first four explosions came almost simultaneousl y (同时地) around midday, sending thousands of panicked re sidents rushing from buildings. A bomb on a train kille d 11 people and injured more than 60.

　　Later, police found a fifth bomb at a downtown gas station. Two members of a bomb squad were killed when i t went off while they tried to defuse it.

　　Police were swamped with reports of suspicious pack ages, and several buildings were evacuated in false ala rms. One package left on a counter in a shopping mall s parked a stampede from the building, but a bomb squad f ound it contained mangoes.

　　The government has been fighting the Abu Sayyaf reb els for 10 years, but the conflict intensified this sum mer. The blasts came a day after Manila-area police wer e put on alert for holiday bombing attacks by the rebel group.

　　by Adam Brown