(Adds quotes) By Carmel Crimmins MANILA, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Muslim rebels released a top Philippine general, a senior government official and their aides on Sunday after holding them for two nights in their camp on a remote southern island. "I'm okay. I'm glad this crisis is over," Brigadier-General Ben Dolorfino, commander of military forces in Manila, told reporters after arriving at the military's base on Jolo island, 950 km (600 miles) south of the capital. Dolorfino, a Muslim convert, insisted he and Ramon Santos, head of the government's truce panel, were not hostages of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) on Jolo because they were not disarmed and were allowed to use their mobile phones. "We agreed to the invitation to stay for a while," he said. Dolorfino and Santos had flown in on Friday morning for talks with the MNLF about a shaky 1996 peace agreement and clashes between government troops and its members. Rebel commander Habier Malik had refused to let them leave until he received assurances that a meeting about the 1996 deal would take place in Saudi Arabia between the government, the MNLF and the Muslim world's largest grouping, the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC). Malik also wanted the general to apologise for the killing of nine MNLF members and civilians in an encounter with marines last month. Three soldiers were also killed in the clash on Jolo. The MNLF has said that the military wrongly identified the dead as members of Abu Sayyaf, the Philippines' most deadly Muslim militant group, which Manila has vowed to crush. In a ceremony filmed by local television, Malik handed over four assault rifles seized by the MNLF in the fatal encounter."We just cooperated with them. No cash paid, only sacks of rice and some sardines for the families of the victims of (the) Jan. 18 encounter," Dolorfino said. DECADES-OLD CONFLICT The Philippines is a largely Catholic country but has a sizeable Muslim minority in the south, where a decades-old conflict between Islamic separatists and government troops has killed more than 120,000 people and impoverished millions. The MNLF is the oldest of four Muslim rebel groups on the archipelago. Disillusionment with the way the 1996 peace deal was implemented has encouraged some members to defect to other groups such as the Abu Sayyaf and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. A spokesman for President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said in a statement that the government was committed to fully implementing the 1996 peace deal, which gave Muslims greater self-rule but floundered due to lack of funds and mismanagement. "We acknowledge that there are outstanding issues with the MNLF that need to be resolved," Ignacio Bunye said. The 57-member OIC, which helped broker peace between Manila and the MNLF, had originally scheduled a meeting last year and then later this month on how to salvage the agreement. Dolorfino, the highest-ranked Muslim in the armed forces, is well respected on Jolo, where he helped forge a ceasefire in 2005 between the MNLF and government troops. The father of three regularly visits the thickly forested island, where 7,000 troops, backed by U.S. advisers and equipment, have scored recent victories against the Abu Sayyaf and its regional ally, Jemaah Islamiah. (Additional reporting by Manny Mogato)
