Manila - Philippine security forces on Tuesday arrested a Bangladeshi national suspected of being a terrorist and seized two homemade bombs in his rented apartment in a southern province, a police report said.

A joint police and military team arrested the suspect, identified as Muhammad Alpariz, in Shariff Kabunsuan town in Maguindanao province, 930 kilometres south of Manila, based on a warrant issued by a local judge.

The police report said Alpariz was believed to be a member of the regional Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terrorist group and an expert in making homemade bombs.

The raiding team seized two homemade bombs made from 60-millimetre mortar shells, two 81-millimetre mortar shells ready to be rigged, wires, blasting caps, detonating cords and other bomb-making paraphernalia.

The suspect was being transferred to a regional police headquarters in Davao City, the report added.

Philippine and foreign security experts have warned that dozens of JI operatives were hiding in the southern region of Mindanao, training in preparation for strikes anywhere in South-East Asia.

JI, believed to be the regional arm of the international al-Qaeda terrorist network, has been blamed for some of the worst terrorist attacks in South-East Asia, including the
2002 Bali nightclub bombings that killed more than 200 people. (dpa)