Muslim informants to be rewarded

ZAMBOANGA CITY – US Ambassador Kristie Kenney and US Pacific Command (PACOM) Chief Admiral William Fallon will be awarding cash rewards Monday for two young Muslim boys who detected bombs and saved lives of its soldiers, according to a US military official here.

Kenney and Fallon will fly to Jolo and they are expected to be accompanied by Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Hermogenes Esperon for the formal handover of the cash reward.

Maj. John Redfield, US Joinst Special Operations Task Force-Philippines (JSOTF-P) public affairs officer said the presentation is under the US Department of Defense rewards program. He said the cash reward is for the two young Muslim boys who discovered and identified an improvised explosive device planted along a road in Jolo recently.

"There was about to be a convoy of AFP and US forces. So the actions of these two boys may have saved Filipino and American lives," according to Redfield in a statement. It was not immediately specified as to how much the young informants would be receiving.

US military forces are currently staging humanitarian and technical assistance with the local military forces to defeat the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terror cells in Sulu. — Roel Pareño