Aid workers may have been target in Philippines

A police investigator reveals an improvised explosive device from a backpack which a Malaysian member of a terrorist group Jemaah Islamiya was trying to detonate Friday in Davao city Saturday. AP

MANILA, Philippines — Philippine security officials say the wife of a suspected Malaysian terrorist, who was killed by police commandos while about to detonate a powerful bomb in a southern city, has told investigators they were planning to attack a passenger bus to extort money from its owners.

But police Senior Superintendent Ronald dela Rosa told The Associated Press on Monday that he doubted the statement by the arrested Filipino wife of Mohammad Noor Fikrie, and believed the two either targeted foreign aid workers helping the typhoon-devastated region or a packed Roman Catholic church as part of a terrorist mission.

SWAT snipers killed Fikrie while he threatened to set off a bomb in his backpack late Friday in a public park in southern Davao city. His Filipino wife was captured by police.