KORONADAL, Philippines: A crude bomb exploded at a video game stall near a market in the southern Philippines yesterday, killing three and wounding 25, most of them children, the military said.

The home-made device exploded near the public market in the city of Koronadal on Mindanao island in mid-afternoon, said armed forces public information chief Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Lucero said.

Lucero said the military was still investigating who may have been behind the blast. The bombing was near the site of a similar blast in May in which the Abu Sayyaf, a Muslim rebel group which Washington has linked to the al-Qaida network, claimed responsibility.

"Initial reports also disclosed the casualties were mostly children. There will be a fiesta (festival) there tomorrow," Lucero told reporters in Manila.

Lucero earlier said initial reports indicated six people were killed. Officials of the provincial disaster co-ordinating council in Koronadal said nine were critically injured and the death toll could rise. Goods and vegetables were scattered at the scene of the bloody blast and one witness said he saw someone's feet cut off by the explosion.

"This has been brought to the attention of the President and the President strongly condemns this terroristic act," presidential spokesman Iganacio Bunye told reporters.

"We'll make sure that they are brought to justice, but at the same time, we should keep the doors open for those who genuinely desire peace in Mindanao."

The Abu Sayyaf, which gained notoriety for its kidnap-for-ransom activities, is one of four major Muslim rebel groups fighting for an Islamic state in the south of this largely Catholic country.

The biggest group - the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) - has denied any involvement in yesterday's blast. Police and military have blamed the MILF for other bombings in Mindanano in recent months.

"What benefit will the MILF get from this?" MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu told reporters.

The May bombing by Abu Sayyaf killed 10 people, revised down from the initially reported 13.

Malaysia has offered to broker peace talks starting this month between Manila and the MILF, which has been fighting with government troops for three decades.

Bunye said he did not think the incident would get in the way of peace talks with the MILF.

"We have gone this far already, and we believe that we have made a significant headway, and we should not throw some obstacles to the pursuit of genuine peace for those who earnestly want to have peace in Mindanao," he said.

Agencies via Xinhua

(China Daily 07/11/2003 page1)