Manila - Two Swiss men were arrested in a southern Philippine city for allegedly operating a cybersex den, a police report said Saturday. The two suspects were arrested Friday during a raid in a three-story house in Kauswagan village in the outskirts of Cagayan de Oro City, 835 kilometres south of Manila.

Seventeen young women, allegedly involved in the cybersex ring were also taken into custody by the raiding team. At least six of the women were caught performing sex acts before a camera attached to a computer which was connected to the internet.

Manila - The Philippines has formed a task force to help a chemical tanker stranded off the coast of Somalia without fuel after being freed by pirates, the foreign ministry said Friday.

The Philippine-registered MT Stolt Strength, with 23 Filipino sailors on board, was released by pirates on Tuesday after five months in captivity. All the crew were unharmed and the ship was supposed to sail to Oman.

Manila - A US Marine whose rape conviction was overturned by the Philippines' appeals court has left the country as protesters denounced the reversal, the US Embassy said Friday.

Lance Corporal Daniel Smith, 24, has been under the custody of the US Embassy in Manila since he was convicted of rape and sentenced to life in prison in December
2006.

Manila - The Philippine Court of Appeals on Thursday overturned the rape conviction of a US Marine sentenced in 2006 to life in prison in the alleged assault of a Filipino woman, which provoked protests and outrage in the former American colony. The Court of Appeals ordered the immediate release of Lance Corporal Daniel Smith, 24, who has been in the custody of the US embassy in Manila since he was convicted in December 2006.

Manila - One Philippine soldier was wounded in a clash with communist rebels while providing security for US troops building a farm road in an eastern province, a military spokesman said Thursday.

The firefight erupted Wednesday when troops encountered the guerrillas while on patrol in Barcelona town in Sorsogon province, 390 kilometres south-east of Manila.

Lieutenant Colonel Ernesto Torres said the troops were part of forces providing security for US soldiers constructing a one-kilometre farm road in nearby Juban town at the time of the clash.

Manila  - Government troops clashed with Muslim militants holding captive an Italian Red Cross worker on a southern Philippine island, a military spokesman said Thursday.

Brigadier General Gaudencio Rosales said the fighting erupted Wednesday when Muslim Abu Sayyaf rebels tried to break out of a cordon set up by government forces in Talipao town on Jolo island, 1,000 kilometres south of Manila.