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Philippine police hunt for supporters of failed rebellion

Philippine authorities launched a manhunt on Friday for suspects accused of helping stage a dramatic but short-lived rebellion against the government which was put down by the military.

The small band of primarily armed forces officers who seized a luxury hotel on Thursday to demand the resignation of Philippine President Gloria Arroyo were bundled off by police after a lightning raid, but officials said others were involved.

Police chief Avelino Razon said documents found in the debris of the Peninsula Hotel, which SWAT teams stormed in a hail of gunfire and tear gas to end the stand-off, indicated "four groups" took part in the mutiny.

ESCAPED

He told reporters at least three renegade officers seen taking over the hotel had managed to get away despite the security cordon around the hotel and a subsequent overnight curfew in Manila.

"One left a wig at the hotel premises," Razon told reporters.

Meanwhile officials said up to 20 other people who were not part of the hotel siege were under investigation, including politicians and businessmen said to have financed the rebellion.

"Some of them are businessmen but I do not want to be hasty by naming names," National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales said.

"We are investigating the possible involvement of certain politicians," said armed forces chief of staff General Hermogenes Esperon, who also declined to name them.

Aides said Arroyo would pursue her normal schedule, including a previously scheduled 10-day swing through Europe.

Arroyo has faced repeated coup attempts since taking power in 2001, and many of the people involved in Thursday's mutiny had come directly from a court hearing into their involvement in a 2003 coup attempt.

FAILED APPEAL

The armed forces can make or break a president, and the leaders of Thursday's uprising -- Navy Lieutenant Antonio Trillanes and Brigadier General Danilo Lim -- had appealed to the rest of the military to join them.

Instead, after rebels ignored a deadline to surrender, armored personnel carriers smashed into the hotel lobby and elite troops poured inside. The rebels swiftly surrendered, and no one was reported injured in the raid.
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