2 Filipino militants arrested for alleged bombings

Troops have captured two militants who allegedly helped top al-Qaida-linked terror suspects hide in the southern Philippines and carry out deadly bomb attacks, officials said Thursday.

The arrests were significant because they severed some of the links between foreign terrorists and local insurgents, Eduardo Ermita, who heads a government anti-terrorism agency, told a news conference.

Omar Venancio is accused of helping 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 at nearby beach resorts before he was arrested last month, Ermita said.

He was arrested with receipts for the explosives and described the plans during interrogation, Ermita said.

Troops and intelligence agents also 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.

"It's very significant," Ermita said. "The U.S. counterparts were very happy."

Among the foreign militants who allegedly helped gain sanctuary and contacts in the southern Mindanao region were long-wanted Indonesian terror suspects Dulmatin, who goes by one name, and Umar Patek, he said.

Dulmatin and Patek, who allegedly fled to Mindanao in 2003, are wanted for their alleged role in plotting the 2002 nightclub bombings in Bali, Indonesia, that killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists.