SOUTH-EAST Asian governments launched a massive security dragnet for a top Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) bomb-maker who bolted from a Philippine jail, as Western security partners warned of heightened threats to the region.

THE Philippines ordered a nationwide manhunt on Monday after one of the region’s top Islamic militants escaped from a high-security prison in Manila, apparently with the connivance of his guards.

A man in the Philippines carrying 104 ‘‘questionable’’ Malaysian passports, 57,000 US dollars in cash and a mobile phone with ‘‘Osama bin Laden’’ displayed on it was today arrested at Manila’s international airport, officials said.