MANILA, Philippines - Philippine troops have captured two local militants accused of helping top al-Qaida-linked foreign terrorists gain a foothold in Muslim rebel strongholds in the country's volatile south and plan deadly bomb attacks, officials said Thursday.
The Associated Press also reported that authorities say Omar Venancio helped a member of the militant group Jemaah Islamiyah buy explosives intended for a suicide bombing at a Roman Catholic cathedral in southern Davao city and other attacks in nearby beach resorts, said Eduardo Ermita, who heads the government's Anti-Terrorism Council.
Army troops and intelligence agents separately arrested Mokasid Dilna, who allegedly headed the Al-Khobar group blamed for bombing passenger buses and business establishments since 2007 for rejecting his extortion demands, Ermita said.
The arrests were significant because they could sever some of the crucial links between foreign terrorists and at least two local Muslim groups, the violent Abu Sayyaf and the larger Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which could provide sanctuary and training grounds in southern Mindanao region.
"It's very significant," Ermita said, "the U.S. counterparts were very happy.
Venancio and Dilna, their arms cuffed and restrained by military escorts, looked confused when paraded by anti-terrorism officials during a news conference in Manila. Both had earplugs on, apparently to prevent them from reacting to journalists' questions.
Venancio, a Moro Islamic Liberation Front member, was arrested last month in southern Cotabato City with receipts for the explosives. He described the plans for a suicide bombing in Davao and other attacks during interrogation, Ermita said. None of the attacks took place.
He was described in an anti-terrorism council statement as Jemaah Islamiyah militants' most trusted local since 2005 in Mindanao, the southern region where a Muslim separatist rebellion has raged for decades Venancio allegedly helped move funds for top Jemaah Islamiyah figure Umar Patek and also acquire guns and explosives for the Indonesian group's militants hiding with Abu Sayyaf on Jolo Island, Ermita said.
Patek, an Indonesian, is wanted along with another Indonesian named Dulmatin in the 2002 nightclub bombings in Bali, Indonesia, that killed 202 people in Southeast Asia's worst terrorist attack.
The pair allegedly fled to Mindanao in 2003. They have reportedly provided bomb-making and religious training to the Abu Sayyaf, which has been included in a U.S. terrorist blacklist for its links to al-Qaida and involvement in several bombings, kidnappings for ransom and beheadings.
Dilna, who uses the nom de guerre Abu Badrin, was trained in explosives and unspecified types of weapons in Afghanistan and Pakistan at about the same time as Patek in the early 1990s.
When he returned home, he passed on the skills to Filipino and foreign militants, Ermita said.
He has also given refuge to Dulmatin, Patek and other Jemaah Islamiyah militants, he said. (AP)
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