■ The PhilippinesAbu Sayyaf leader caught

A leader of the Abu Sayyaf Muslim extremist group which kidnapped an American in 2000 has been captured by troops in the southern Philippines, the military said yesterday. Bindang Andang, a member of the band that held American Jeffrey Schilling on the island of Jolo for almost nine months, was captured at Tawi-tawi island while aboard a ferry late Friday. Schilling was lured into the Abu Sayyaf camp in the jungles of Jolo in August 2000 and was held for months until he finally escaped during a military assault on the kidnappers. Andang, who had a one-million-peso (US$17,770) bounty on his head, has also been linked to numerous kidnappings of Filipinos over the years including the abduction of 53 students and teachers in the island of Basilan in early-2000.

■ Thailand

Trips for tip-offs

Frustrated in its attempts to retrieve more than 300 assault rifles stolen by suspected Muslim extremists, Thailand's army is offering a free pilgrimage to Mecca for anyone who helps secure the weapons' return. Thailand's Fourth Army region, responsible for security in southern Thailand, announced Friday that anyone who helped recover the guns stolen in a Jan. 4 raid on an army camp in Narathiwat province would be rewarded with air fare for flights to Mecca for three people. Each pilgrim would also get 20,000 baht (US$500) in pocket money. Generous cash offers for the return of the guns have apparently had no takers, although a few weapons have been recovered. The sole reward handed out so far has been to an army dog who sniffed out a buried M-16 rifle and received a sack of dog food and an artificial bone. Violence in Thailand's south, generally attributed to Muslim militants, surged after the Jan. 4 raid, in which four soldiers were killed. More than 300 people have been killed since then.

■ Australia

Iraq handover planned

Australia will withdraw about 60 military air traffic controllers from Iraq next month after transferring responsibility for Baghdad's International Airport to civilian staff, Defense Minister Robert Hill said yestyerday. "The handover to the Iraqi civilian authorities marks an important step in Iraq's transition and reconstruction," Hill said. Australia will maintain the level of its overall deployment in Iraq, with an army training program extended by six months and with a medical team and a scaled-down air traffic control team introduced to keep its numbers up to about 850 personnel.

■ New Zealand

Hookers get work manual

The government, in taking steps to legalize prostitution, has now issued a guide for sex workers. The 100-page Occupational Safety and Health guide to safe sex practices has been launched on a government Web site with the caution: "Warning: this document contains sexually explicit material." The recommendations -- which the New Zealand Herald said yesterday will also be distributed to brothels and sex workers -- include detailed advice on safe sex practices such as the storage and handling of sex toys and disinfecting equipment. Employers are also asked to ensure condoms in a variety of shapes and sizes are always available, and to provide beds that support the back for a variety of services to be performed without strain or discomfort.

■ LibyaNo troops, Qaddafi says

Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Qaddafi has urged fellow Arab and Muslim nations not to send troops into Iraq, the official news agency reported yesterday. "Arab and Muslim troops should not be sent to Iraq unless the occupation forces with-draw," JANA quoted Qaddafi as saying in a statement. He also said that a UN resolution was also needed to sanction sending these troops to the war-torn Arab country. Saudi Arabia has suggested dispatching Arab and Muslim troops to Iraq.