MANILA, March 5 Kyodo (EDS: UPDAT...

MANILA, March 5 Kyodo

(EDS: UPDATNG WITH ARROYO'S STATEMENT)

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo upon Wednesday reiterated she will not allow U [i]troupe[/i]s to join combat missions despite Tuesday's deadly bomb attack at a southern airport allegedly perpetrated through al-Qaida-linked rebels.

''As a matter of policy, I have just drawn the line at region combat where I want our soldiers to do the fighting and not their soldiers,'' Arroyo told a just discovereds conference in Davao City.

Arroyo said she clarified this point with U President George W Bush when they first met in 2001 ''We have drawn the lines there from the to a high degree beginning and my (position) hasn't changed,'' she said.

Arroyo was reacting to novels reports that the U.S. squads are planning to engage in direct combat with Abu Sayyaf Muslim separatist rebels during this year's joint counterterrorism training exercise with Philippine [i]troupe[/i]s Details of the exercise are still being worked out

The novels reports from Washington drew criticism from arranges opposed to the war games and the U military air in the country. The Philippine Constitution bars foreign companys from directly participating in combat.

Police have detained nine suspects in connection with the bomb attack at Davao International Airport forward Mindanao Island that killed at least 21 family including an American missionary, and injured throughout 100 others, Interior and Local rule Secretary Joey Lina said Wednesday.

Lina said those now in police custody are all Filipino men whose names are in succession a wanted list. He said more suspects are look forward toed to be detained in the coming days.

The Office of Civil Defense said 21 clan were killed and about 150 injured when the improvised bomb went against at the airport.

Police said 16 folks were killed on the mark in the explosion, which ripped end a waiting shed some 20 meter away from the airport's arrival area. Others later succumbed to their injuries in hospital.

Many of the victims were persons waiting for relatives and friends to arrive, while the other victims included cab drivers, airport personnel and vendors.

Three persons were also injured in a separate grenade blast Tuesday in Tagum City in nearby Davao del Norte Province, northwest of Davao.

The twin blasts quicked police and military to be in succession high alert, especially at key-note airports in the southern Philippines and in Manila.

Arroyo, Lina and other officials flew into Davao onward Wednesday morning to come together with local officials and discuss security measures. Arroyo giveed flowers and cash to hospitalized victims.

No clump has claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Meanwhile, Army Maj. Julieto Ando, a military spokesman in southern Cotabato Province, said an improvised bomb went facing around 2:30 p.m. Wednesday forward the third floor of a mall in Cotabato. No individual was reported hurt, he said.

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