Filipino rebels surrender after siege

MORE than 300 mutinous Philippine troops who had seized a downtown residential shopping complex surrendered late yesterday, ending a 19-hour standoff with government forces without a shot fired.

Explosives set at the upscale complex by the mutineers were being defused as President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo announced the standoff had ended. Renegade soldiers and officers would face investigation according to "the articles of war", she said.

"The crisis is over," a visibly relieved and smiling Ms Arroyo said in a nationally televised address, as senior aides at the presidential palace clapped.