Philippine authorities have arrested a senior leader of the Abu Sayyaf kidnap gang and two of his aides in the southern island of Basilan, the military said Sunday.
The authorities declined to identify the ranking detainee, who they said carried a five million-peso (about 97,000 dollars) prize on his head.
The gang, which describes itself as a Muslim separatist guerrilla group, is holding 18 hostages including US Christian missionary couple Martin and Gracia Burnham, both Kansas natives.
When the couple was seized along with another American and 17 Filipinos in the western Philippines resort of Dos Palmas in late May, President Gloria Arroyo offered a two million-dollar bounty on the kidnappers -- 97,000 dollars for each leader and 19,400 dollars for each member.
The gunmen have beheaded more than a dozen Filipino captives and claim to have decapitated Peru-born Californian Guillermo Sobero, who the government presumes is already dead.
Military spokesmen said the three Abu Sayyaf members were arrested near the town of Tuburan in Basilan on Saturday -- MANILA (AFP)
