ZAMBOANGA CITY, 9 Mayu 2004 — Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels have arrested a man they accused of orchestrating illegal gambling games in two largely Muslim towns in the southern Philippines, the group’s spokesman said yesterday.

Rebel fighters swooped down on the house of the man and seized him, said Eid Kabalu. The man’s identity was unknown, but Kabalu said he is a Muslim.

“Our mujahideen arrested the man who is behind many illegal gambling games in the towns of Datu Piang and Datu Odin Sinsuat, all in Maguindanao province, and he is being detained until we cast away the evils in him,” Kabalu told Arab News.

Kabalu said the man was arrested late Wednesday after Muslim villagers complained about his alleged illegal activities. “Gambling is prohibited in Islam. It destroys the moral value of man, it destroys the family and it brings evil to anyone involved in it,” he said.

He said the man is being disciplined. “Once he is fully disciplined then we will free him so he can start a new life,” he said.

The MILF strictly prohibits Muslims from gambling, smoking and drinking in areas where it is actively operating.

It also hanged three Muslim men on a public square in the 1990s after a rebel court convicted them of stealing and murdering their neighbors.

The rebels’ swift justice drew huge support from many Muslims and Christians in the south, but the government in Manila protested the hanging and warned MILF leaders that they will be held responsible should it continue public executions. Ironically, the Philippine government has reinstated the death penalty in its statute books despite protests by Church leaders and human rights advocates.

The military on Friday accused the MILF of kidnapping a man Ngura Benito late Wednesday from his house in the village of Elian in Datu Saudi Ampatuan town for a still unknown reason.

It was not immediately known if the arrest of Benito was connected to the disappearance of the gambling financier.

The latest kidnapping coincided with the release of the 24-year Richard Anasco, who was allegedly abducted in Tacurong City by members of the Pentagon Gang, blamed by the military and police for the series of kidnappings-for-ransom in the strife-torn region.

The MILF said it recovered Anasco after rebel forces stormed a hideout of the Pentagon Gang in Isulan town in Sultan Kudarat province.

The military tagged a rebel leader known only as Commander Tony under the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces’s 109th Base Command, as behind the kidnapping of Benito, but this was denied by the MILF.

Manila is currently negotiating peace with the MILF, the country’s largest separatist rebel group fighting for independence in the south.