ZAMBOANGA CITY (August 6, 2010) – Sulu Governor Abdusakur Tan urged police authorities to conduct a thorough investigation as to who was behind the attempt on his life on early Thursday night outside the Zamboanga International Airport here.

Tan, who suspects he was the main target of the bomb attack, sustained a slight injury on the left side of his stomach, while his son Maimbung Mayor Samier Tan safely escaped from injury when the bomb exploded at around 6:15 pm, Thursday.

The two officials of Sulu have just arrived in this city from Manila when the incident took place as they were leaving the arrival area of the local airport here.

Tan said police authorities must unmask those behind the assassination attempt and punish them to the fullest extend of the law.

At least five persons were reportedly killed and 24 others were injured, including a British national when a bomb tied around the wais of a suspected suicide bomber exploded near Tan.

He said the suspect's head hit the body of his son when the bomb exploded while a soft bone of the suspect hit the side of his lower stomach causing a minor injury.

“I will leave it to the proper authorities to find out who is or are behind the assassination attempt on my life,” Tan told newsmen here.

City Mayor Celso Lobregat, chair of the local crisis management committee (CMC), identified the suspected suicide bomber as Renaldo Ampilado a resident of barangay Caragasan in this city.

Four of the 24 injured victims who were rushed to the different hospitals here died from shrapnel wounds they sustained from the blast.

Lobregat said policemen were able to identify the suspect through his Social Security System (SSS) and Zamboanga Electric Cooperative (Zamcelco) identification cards which recovered from the suspect's wallet.

Lobregat also said that British national Macker Charls, 69 who was among those who arrived here from Manila was seriously injured.

US ambassador to the Philippines, Harry K. Thomas, canceled his Friday visit to this city for security reasons.