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.