RP troops arrest more rebels on hostage island
RP troops arrest more rebels on hostage island
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines (Agencies): Philippine troops have
arrested three more suspected members of the Muslim Abu Sayyaf
group holding about 20 Filipino and U.S. hostages for weeks on
southern Basilan island, the military said on Sunday.
The arrest of the three, one of whom is a policeman, brought
to 84 the number of suspected rebels arrested by the military and
police since President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ordered a
crackdown on the group more than a week ago.
A military spokesman said the policeman, who was a relative of
an Abu Sayyaf leader, and the two other suspects were arrested
last Saturday on Jolo island, near Basilan.
The hostages included three Americans who were abducted by the
Abu Sayyaf from a resort off Palawan island on May 27 and brought
to the guerrillas' hideout on Basilan, 900 km south of Manila.
The guerrillas said last month that they had beheaded one of
their U.S. captives but there has been no independent
confirmation of the report.
The military did not say if the detained suspects actually
took part in the taking of the hostages. The military says the
Abu Sayyaf has about 1,000 members of whom about 100 took part in
the kidnap operation.
The Abu Sayyaf is one of two groups fighting for an Islamic
state in the south of the mainly Roman Catholic country but
pursues kidnap for ransom as its main activity.
Peace talks
Meanwhile, Philippine government negotiators are to leave for
Malaysia on Monday to resume formal peace talks with separatist
Moro rebels, the leader of the team said on Sunday.
Manila concluded the first round of talks with the Moro
Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Tripoli, Libya four weeks ago
by signing a nationwide cease-fire.
Chief government negotiator Jesus Dureza said the Kuala Lumpur
round would focus on the mechanics and implementation of the
truce, as well as "matters about the development of the conflict
areas."
"First there will be an opening ceremony on Tuesday," he told
AFP.
The agenda would then be handed over to joint technical
working committees, and the negotiators would meet again "after
two or three days" to ratify any agreement, he added.
The 12,500-member MILF has been waging a 23-year guerrilla
campaign over the mainly western half of the large southern
island of Mindanao and nearby islands.
The month-old truce was broken on Friday in a clash near the
town of Butig that left two soldiers wounded and an armored
infantry vehicle damaged, southern Philippines military spokesman
Col. Jogi Fojas said.
A military patrol stumbled into an MILF training base,
triggering a firefight, he told reporters.
Army artillery later pounded the Muslim rebel camp, but there
were no reports of guerrilla casualties.