MANILA - A SUSPECTED militant believed to be a liaison between Muslim rebels and a Southeast Asian terrorist network was arrested in the restive southern Philippines, officials said on Wednesday.
Security forces apprehended Abi Pamanay in the central part of Mindanao Island on Tuesday based on an arrest warrant for murder in connection with bombing attacks, said Philippine army chief Lt. Gen. Arturo Ortiz.
Mr Ortiz accused Pamanay of being a member of the largest Muslim separatist group and a 'senior associate' of notorious bomb-maker Abdul Basit Usman, who has been on the run for his alleged links with the Indonesian-based terrorist network Jemaah Islamiah (JI) and the Al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group, both blamed for a series of deadly attacks across the region.
Pamanay was being interrogated after his arrest in Isulan town in Sultan Kudarat province, Mr Ortiz said. Other officials were quoted as saying he did not resist arrest and had denied the charges against him.
Usman is a Filipino on the US State Department's list of most-wanted terrorists who carries a US$1 million (S$1.2 million) bounty.
Pakistani military intelligence officers last year claimed that Usman was killed with other militants in a US drone strike in Pakistani tribal regions, but a Philippine military official later denied it, saying that Usman had been sighted near southern Maguindanao province. -- AP
