US gives Filipino informants $10m

The money was handed over in bundles of cash

The US embassy in the Philippines has given a US$10m reward to four Filipinos whose information led to the killing of two high-profile terrorism suspects.

The head of the Abu Sayyaf rebel group, Khadaffy Janjalani, and senior leader Abu Sulaiman, were killed by Philippine troops in September and January.

The reward is the biggest the US government has given in its anti-terror campaign in the Philippines.

There is an even higher price on the head of a 2002 Bali bombing suspect.

The four men who received the US$10m reward on Thursday wore masks to protect their identities.

They were handed the money in black plastic suitcases by embassy officials on the southern island of Jolo, where the two militants were killed.

"Information provided by the brave Filipino citizens recognised today was instrumental in assisting the Armed Forces of the Philippines to track down and locate these two terrorist leaders," the US embassy said in a statement.

Secret role

Authorities have refused to give details of the precise role that the informants played in tracking down Janjalani and Sulaiman.

The recipients wore black face masks to protect their identity

Abu Sayyaf is the smallest of four Muslim rebel groups in the Philippines, with about 400 members.

It is blamed for kidnappings and bombings, including an attack on a ferry in 2004 that killed more than 100 people.

The US has listed it as a terrorist organisation and says it has links to al-Qaeda.

The Philippine authorities have been trying to flush Abu Sayyaf rebels from hideouts in Jolo, backed by US military surveillance and other non-combat assistance.

Indonesia terror suspects Dulmatin and Umar Patek are thought to be in the region.

The US government has offered a US$10m reward for information leading to the capture of Dulmatin, who has been named as the bomb maker in the 2002 fatal bombings of nightclubs in Bali.