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.

Muslim separatists have accused Philippine troops of violating a cease-fire agreement by attacking the home of a rebel leader in the country's south.

A Muslim separatist group in the Philippines today said it believed an American hostage was alive despite claims of another rebel group that they beheaded him.