Philippine police have arrested a foreigner allegedly involved in a terrorist plot to assassinate scandal-tainted President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and bomb embassies in the country, the national police chief said Friday.

Director General Avelino Razon refused to reveal the identity, but said police arrested the suspect three days earlier during operations to probe an alleged plot to kill Arroyo.

He said the suspect had links with the Al Qaeda-linked militant groups Abu Sayyaf and the regional Jemaah Islamiyah.

'We are not going to reveal details about the foreigner because we are still conducting follow-up operations to account for the other companions,' he said.

The plot to assassinate Arroyo and bomb embassies was revealed to the public Feb 14, the eve of a mass demonstration demanding Arroyo's resignation over accusations of corruption and electoral fraud.

Critics dismissed the alleged plot as a government ploy to scare off people from attending the demonstration.

Thursday, the military warned that Abu Sayyaf rebels or communist guerrillas were planning to launch terror attacks during Friday's anti-government demonstration in the financial district of Makati to demand Arroyo's ouster.

The rally will be the third mass protest against Arroyo in the past two weeks since a witness told a senate inquiry that her husband and a key ally had demanded multimillion-dollar kickbacks from an anomalous government contract.