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.
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