COTABATO CITY, 24 May 2003 — Police said yesterday they arrested a man wanted in connection with a bomb attack that killed 10 people earlier this month as officials cited intelligence reports indicating Moro separatists were plotting similar attacks.

Sindatok Dimaloloy, a suspected member of the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), told police the bomb used in the May 10 attack in the southern city of Koronadal was made by an Indonesian, police Deputy Director General Virtus Gil told reporters.

Dimaloloy was arrested yesterday on charges of multiple murder and multiple frustrated murder. His exact role in the attack is unclear. Four other suspects remain fugitives.

“We have received intelligence reports that the MILF special operations group has distributed improvised bombs to their ordinary foot soldiers for detonation in certain areas of Mindanao,” Arroyo’s chief of staff, Rigoberto Tiglao said.

This was in retaliation from the offensive ordered by Arroyo against the MILF in the southern island of Mindanao, he told reporters.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has warned that her government will declare the MILF a terrorist organization if it does not renounce terrorism and turn over perpetrators of bombings and raids that have killed more than 210 people this year.

MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu vehemently denied the alleged plot and insisted that they were not engaging in terrorist activities.

“That’s an invention by the military. Part of psy-war (psychological warfare.) There is no truth in that. The MILF never engages in these kind of activities,” he said.

Kabalu expressed suspicion that the military was only conditioning the minds of the public for another round of offensive against the MILF.

“This time around, it (military offensive) is expected to be more brutal and directed on the civilian populace in urban centers after they have realize that the so called selective ground and air strike do not produce the desire results,” he said.

Kabalu also denied that they have members in Metro Manila on a mission to conduct terrorist attacks.

Several days ago, police and military authorities rounded up and arrested seven suspects residing in the slum district of, Tondo, Manila. Police said they found in their possession were cans of ammonium nitrate with blasting caps and other explosive devices.

Kabalu said: “Those arrested were all fall guys and the explosive devices found in their possession were planted by the police where they have been acknowledge as expert in fabrication of evidence.”

Tiglao urged the MILF to come out clean. “We are warning them that any attack on civilian targets, especially this kind of terrorist activity, would only confirm the growing perception they are indeed a terrorist organization,” he said.

According to a confidential military report seen yesterday by The Associated Press, documents recovered earlier this year from a rebel camp showed the MILF recently signed a deal to buy military hardware from an unspecified foreign source, and has raised substantial funds from foreign and local supporters.

Documents also showed the MILF has “conducted training on bomb-making, particularly time pencil bomb-type explosives and demolition techniques,” the report said. The military intensified its campaign against the MILF after Arroyo ordered attacks on “embedded terrorist cells” on Mindanao on May 17, the eve of her state visit to the United States.

Defense officials gave conflicting casualty counts on the latest fighting.

On Thursday, Maj. Gen. Cristolito Balaoing, commander of the army’s 4th Infantry Division, said 118 rebels and 12 soldiers had been killed. But Armed Forces of the Philippines vice chief of staff Lt. Gen. Rodolfo Garcia said yesterday 78 rebels were killed. Officials couldn’t immediately explain the discrepancy.

Garcia said only five bodies were recovered and the rebel death toll came from civilians in the area.

The tally of soldiers killed also was unclear, with Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes saying at least 13 soldiers were killed and 22 wounded. Garcia said five soldiers were wounded and none killed.

The MILF count showed 30 soldiers killed and 20 injured, one Simba tank damaged.

Kabalu said these were casualties in the fighting in Pikit, North Cotabato, Datu Piang in Maguindanao province, and Munai town in Lanao del Norte on May 20; and in Matanog, Maguindanao on May 21.

He said the MILF lost only six fighters.