Rebel commander accused of killing 3 soldiers nabbed in Agusan

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Xinhua) - A ranking member of the leftist rebel group of the New People's Army (NPA) accused of killing several government troopers a decade ago was recently arrested in the southern Philippines, local police said today.

According to Superintendent Martin Gamba, spokesman for the police office of Caraga Region, the rebel, identified as Archie Salvan, did not resist as police swooped down on his house in Bayugan, a city in Agusan del Sur, yesterday afternoon.    

Gamba said Salvan is a staff member of NPA's Northeastern Mindanao Regional Committee, operating in the Southern Philippine provinces of Agusan del Sur and Agusan del Norte.

"The long arm of the law finally caught up on him. He was arrested by virtue of arrest warrants issued by a local judge for murder, robbery with double homicide and other crimes," said Gamba in a statement.

Among Salva's alleged crimes was the ambush of an army unit at Berseba village, also in Bayugan on October 2003 that left a soldier dead and the NPA attack on the Bayugan police station eight months later that killed two policemen.

The suspect is now in the custody of the regional police office for documentation and is to be turned over to the local court for proper disposition, the police spokesperson said.