MANILA, Philippines—Two Muslim rebel groups operating in the country, including one engaged in peace talks with the government, have provided sanctuary and helped Indonesian terror suspects sought by the United States elude arrest for years, according to an interrogation report of a captured Indonesian militant.

Among several Indonesians hiding in the South are Umar Patek and Dulmatin, suspects in the deadly 2002 Bali nightclub bombings who have trained local insurgents in bomb making, according to the Indonesian government report.

Mohammad Khildan Baihaqi, a suspected member of the Indonesia-based militant group Jemaah Islamiyah who was captured by troops in Davao Oriental province in February, told Indonesian authorities that the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Abu Sayyaf helped him and other Indonesians gain sanctuary and protection in the South, the report said.

Baihaqi’s disclosures show that Indonesian militants and Filipino insurgents continue to maintain active ties in Mindanao, organizing terror training and plotting new attacks. The Armed Forces of the Philippines has said that about 40 Indonesian Islamic radicals have been on the run from US-backed offensives, looking for a way to escape back home.

Interrogated

Indonesian authorities were allowed to interrogate Baihaqi, who is in Army custody in Manila.

“The Indonesian mujahedeen or voluntary fighters in Mindanao were under the protection of the MILF and the ASG (Abu Sayyaf group),” the report quoted Baihaqi as saying.

Mindanao, home to the Muslim minority, has seen decades of bloody Islamic separatist rebellions by several groups.

The Abu Sayyaf, blacklisted by Washington as a terrorist group for conducting bombings, kidnappings and beheadings, was implicated in the recent kidnapping of recently freed popular TV news anchor Ces Drilon and her two-man crew.

The MILF and Abu Sayyaf had separately collaborated with Indonesian Islamic radicals in plotting new attacks, said Baihaqi, who the report said was involved in a plan to bomb a Roman Catholic cathedral in Mindanao when captured.

Baihaqi said he was given sanctuary by the Abu Sayyaf in their mountain strongholds on Jolo island in January-September 2006 and then lived with MILF guerrillas in Davao del Norte, near where he was arrested.

The MILF, a large rebel group involved in on-and-off peace negotiations with the government, has denied any links with foreign terror groups. It forged an agreement with the government in 2005 to help local troops capture criminals, including al-Qaida-linked militants.

Rebel spokesperson Eid Kabalu said yesterday that Baihaqi might have been given sanctuary by MILF members who have broken away and allied themselves with foreign Islamic militants.

No ‘official’ connection

Kabalu said the MILF had no “official connection” with radical groups such as Jemaah Islamiyah, but he did not rule out the possibility that some foreign Islamic militants might have married local sympathizers of his group to gain shelter and protection.

Suspected Jemaah Islamiyah leader Zulkifli bin Hir, also known as Marwan, had reportedly married a Filipino woman, allowing him to blend in with local Muslim communities for years, Kabalu said. A Malaysian engineer, Bin Hir has been accused of involvement in a number of deadly bomb attacks in the Philippines.

Washington has offered large rewards for the capture of Dulmatin, Patek and Bin Hir.