Arroyo vows to defeat militants

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Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has vowed to defeat Islamic militancy "with a hand of steel".

She said the "relentless pressure" against the rebels was paying off.

Mrs Arroyo was speaking a day after the military announced that Abu Sulaiman, a key member of rebel group Abu Sayyaf, had been killed in a gun battle.

Sulaiman, also known as Jainal Antal Sali, had a $5m bounty placed on his head by the US, in part for the 2001 abduction of a group of tourists.

The kidnapping resulted in the deaths of two Americans and several others.

Sulaiman is also believed to have been involved in the bombing of a passenger ferry in the central Philippines in 2004, which killed at least 100 people.

'Tightening the dragnet'

The Philippine military announced on Tuesday that Sulaiman had been killed during a fierce gun battle between troops and Abu Sayyaf fighters.

Military leaders showed journalists pictures of the dead militantIn December the military also said the head of Abu Sayyaf, Khaddafy Janjalani, might have been killed, but this has yet to be confirmed.

"This government is determined to finish the job with a hand of steel against evil," Mrs Arroyo told senior army commanders at the main military camp in Manila, commending them for their recent successes.

"The relentless pressure we have applied in the field is taking its toll, and we will keep it up until all terrorists and their clandestine cells are accounted for."

She also said the Philippines should work closer with its allies to stop the movement of bombers and their funds.

"We are resolved to work with our strategic allies in the region, and with the United States, to tighten the dragnet and stop the movement of terrorists, their finances and their deadly material across the seas and borders," said Mrs Arroyo.

US troops and military advisers have been in the southern Philippines for the past four months to provide training and intelligence for an offensive on the island of Jolo.

The operation was designed as an attempt to capture Mr Janjalani and Indonesian terrorism suspects Dulmatin and Umar Patek, who are thought to be in the region.