Philippine troops arrest suspected "hardline terrorists"

Manila - Philippine troops have arrested two Muslim militants, including one who allegedly facilitated fund transfers for the Indonesia-based Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terrorist group, an army spokesman said Wednesday. Lieutenant Colonel Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos said the two suspects were arrested in separate operations on Jolo island, 1,000 kilometres south of Manila, and in the southern city of Marawi. 'These two are hardline terrorists,' he said. One of the suspects, Ansar Bernardino Venancio, a member of the special operations command of the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), was arrested on June 11 in Marawi City. 'Venancio facilitated the stay, travel and the transfer of funds and conversion of funds for Philippine-based JI operatives,' Burgos said. 'His arrest is a big blow to the part of the JI based in the Philippines.' The MILF, the largest Muslim rebel group fighting for an independent Islamic state in the southern Philippines, has denied having official links with terrorist groups. The second suspect, Mubin Sakandal, a senior member of the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf rebel group, was arrested in Patikul town on Jolo island on May 22. Burgos said the Philippine and US governments had offered cash rewards of about 50,000 dollars for the arrest and prosecution of Sakandal, a trusted lieutenant of the late Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khadafi Janjalani. He said Sakandal was involved in the kidnapping of 21 European tourists and Asian workers from the Malaysian resort island of Sipadan in 2000 and the abduction of three Americans and 17 Filipinos from a Philippine resort in 2001. The Abu Sayyaf has also been blamed for some of the worst terrorist attacks in the Philippines. The rebels have been holding captive an Italian Red Cross worker on Jolo since January 15. Eugenio Vagni, 62, was abducted with two Red Cross colleagues after inspecting a water and sanitation project at Jolo provincial Jail. His two colleagues - a Swiss and a Filipino - were freed separately in April.