Report: Filipino radicals help Indonesian terror suspects

Manila: Filipino rebels have helped Indonesian terror suspects evade capture by giving them refuge and access to weapons and funds in the Philippines, according to a government report on Monday.

The information was gleaned from a recently arrested rebel who told government interrogators that Indonesian terror suspect Umar Patek has established ties with Filipino militants in the region.

Omar Venancio told interrogators that Patek, who fled to southern Mindanao in 2003, had established links with at least five rebel groups in order to gain a safe haven for Jemaah Islamiyah, a radical Indonesia-based faction.

US and Philippine security officials have long been concerned that such tie-ups could allow foreign radicals to pass bomb-making skill to Filipino militants.

Patek and fellow suspected terrorist Dulmatin fled to Mindanao a year after allegedly helping mastermind the 2002 nightclub bombings in Bali, Indonesia that killed 202 people.

They have remained in Mindanao since then, along with about 40 fellow Jemaah Islamiyah members, the military said.