Philippines to expel US 'militants'

The Stubbs brothers deny any links with Muslim militants

Two American brothers arrested in the Philippines and suspected of having links with Muslim militants will be deported, Manila authorities have said.

The men, named as James and Michael Ray Stubbs, were detained on 13 December.

The authorities said the brothers had been questioned about alleged links with al-Qaeda - which they deny.

The Philippine Government says the militant organisation Jemaah Islamiah has been training Filipino rebels in the south of the country.

The two brothers, aged in their 50s, were born in the US state of Missouri, according to the Philippine authorities.

Michael Stubbs is reported to have spent ten years working at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, a major nuclear weapons facility near San Francisco.

Laboratory officials were investigating whether he had access to sensitive information because of his work as a heating and air-conditioning technician, which ended in 2000.

James Stubbs is a Muslim convert also known as Jamil Daud Mujahid.

The authorities say he and his brother have been in and out of the Philippines since early 2002.

'Undesirable'

According to Filipino officials, the two brothers have had contacts with the kidnapping group Abu Sayyaf and the Muslim separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

Both groups have been labelled as terrorist organisations by Washington, and are said to have links with the pan-Asian militant group Jemaah Islamiah (JI).

As he was presented to reporters on Tuesday, James Stubbs rejected the accusation.

"We're Americans... These are all fabricated lies. I don't know any Muslims in the Philippines," he said.

The two men are to be deported to the US as "undesirable aliens", the authorities said.

The Philippines Government earlier this month said members of JI had been training Filipino rebels.

The group - which also has alleged links with al-Qaeda - is suspected of staging terror attacks, including the 2002 Bali bombings.