DAMASCUS, SYRIA:  Syrian pro-government media says a militant suspected to be behind explosions that rocked a southern province, killing a prominent anti-government cleric and stirring unrest, has been arrested.

Syrian state television said Sunday the man known as Wafi Abu Trabi has confessed to elders of the southern Sweida province of plotting the blasts and the subsequent violence against security forces.

Sweida is a predominantly Druze area that largely has stayed out of the civil war raging in Syria since 2011.

An explosion and a car bombing there Friday killed Sheikh Wahid Balous and at least 25 others. Balous was a vocal critic of President Bashar Assad.

The cleric's death sparked angry protests. His supporters have blamed the Syrian government for his death.