Police arrest 4 Pentagon gang members

ZAMBOANGA CITY (AFP) – Four alleged members of the notorious Pentagon" kidnap gang were arrested after two raids in the strife-torn southern Philippines, police said yesterday.

Among those arrested was Rasid Talib, also known as "Datu Puti," who the police branded as a regional commander of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the main Muslim separatist group in the southern Philippines.

Police seized weapons, explosives and ammunition and military uniforms in their raid on Talib’s hideout in Polomolok town in South Cotabato province on Saturday, regional police Chief Superintendent Bartolome Baluyot said.

However MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu denied that Talib was a commander or member of the insurgent group, which signed a ceasefire with the government last month.

"He is not one of us, nor a commander," Kabalu said.

In another raid in Malapatan town in Sarangani province on Friday, police arrested three other suspected Pentagon gang members, Benjamin Salutan, Moner Abdul and Ricardo Troja.

Salutan is believed to be the leader of a division of the Pentagon gang involved in highway robberies, murder and illegal drugs on the southern island of Mindanao, police said.

Baluyot said the police seized sub-machineguns, cash and illegal drugs from the site.

Their arrest followed an order by Philippine President Gloria Arroyo for renewed efforts to crush kidnap-for-ransom gangs which have hurt the country’s image and scared off tourists and investors.

However, the government’s campaign against the Pentagon group was marred after its alleged leader, Faisal Marohombsar, escaped from jail in the national police headquarters in Manila on June 19.

Baluyot said police were tracking down the remaining gang members.

"Their happy days are over and let this be a warning to the other gang members and Faisal Marohombsar because sooner or later you will also fall in our hands," he said.

The Pentagon, made up of former MILF members, have been linked to the kidnapping of a South Korean man and an Italian priest and several Chinese working on a construction project in the south in previous years.

The Italian and South Korean were freed unharmed but two of the Chinese were killed in a botched rescue attempt. Talib was reportedly directly involved in the abduction of the Chinese.

Military officials have previously charged that outlaw groups such as the Pentagon enjoy the protection of the MILF despite a ceasefire signed last year to pave the way for peace talks with the government.