Military chief arrives in restive south

JOLO (AFP) - The head of the armed forces arrived in the restive southern island of Jolo on Sunday as the military intensified its efforts to hunt down Muslim militants who killed 26 soldiers.

General Hermogenes Esperon landed at dawn onboard a C-130 troop transport plane along with his senior officers for a closed door briefing with field commanders, an AFP photographer on the scene said.

He said the situation on Jolo appeared to be calm as troop reinforcements continued to arrive to bolster what the government has described as a "strategy to win the peace," rather than "an act of vengeance."

An extra 1,000 troops have been ordered into Jolo where 5,000 are already engaged in the hunt for militants believed to members of the Abu Sayyaf and Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

Earlier President Gloria Arroyo ordered the head of the army, General Romeo Tolentino, to relocate to the southern city of Zamboanga on Mindanao Island to take charge of the military operation.