President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo approved the lifting today of a week-long period of martial law in a southern Philippine province where 57 people were massacred last month in the country’s worst political violence.

At least 5,000 villagers have fled their homes in nearly a week of sporadic clashes between Muslim guerrillas and pro-government militiamen in the southern Philippines, rebels and officials said today.

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was taken to hospital today after reporting abdominal pain while attending a birthday party for her husband, officials said.

An American hostage held by Muslim terrorists in the Philippines is seriously ill, a spokesman for the rebel Abu Sayyaf group said today.