GENERAL SANTOS CITY?The National Bureau of Investigation district office here confirmed Wednesday the arrest of another suspect in the 2007 lotto outlet blast that killed six people and wounded nearly two dozen others.

Noel Morales, chief of the NBI?s General Santos-Sarangani office, said Andaman Binago alias Mokidin was arrested in an inn in Davao City on Monday.

He said Binago?s arrest was backed by a warrant issued by a local court.

Morales described Binago as a former member of the Special Operations Group (SOG) of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

The MILF-SOG, military and police authorities claimed, was responsible for a spate of bombings in south-central Mindanao since 2000.

The MILF has repeatedly denied the existence of the group, saying it was a military concoction to implicate the rebel group in terror attacks in Mindanao.

The MILF also said the military?s effort to link it to terrorism would justify reports that it had an alliance with the Jemaah Islamiyah, Osama Bin Laden?s terror arm in Southeast Asia.

Morales said Binago was arrested on information provided by Mohammad Kano alias Splinter, who was also a former MILF member. Kano, another suspect in the Lotto outlet bombing, was arrested earlier this year.

Dominic Cerro, NBI special investigator, claimed that Kano?s arrest also led to the thwarting of another bomb attack aimed at disrupting the Tuna Festival in September.

?Because of information we gathered, we were able to prevent the planned bomb attack of the group during the Tuna Festival celebration,? Cerro said.

Binago admitted to reporters that he was a former MILF member but denied participation in the lotto bomb attack or plans to sow terror plot in the city.

However, Morales said the NBI was not buying his denial.

He said the cellular phone seized from Binago during his arrest will be subjected to data analysis by the Australian and Malaysian counter-terrorism units.

He said they were hoping to recover some information that could lead to the arrest of other suspects.

?We are now pursuing more leads with the arrest of Binago.?