Manila  - Three government soldiers were killed in an ambush by communist rebels while they were on their way to a market in the eastern Philippines, an army spokesman said Thursday.

Two soldiers were also wounded while one was able to flee unharmed from the attack that occurred Wednesday, Major Chris Morales said.

Morales said the soldiers were aboard four motorcycles when ambushed by the guerrillas in Ragay town in Camarines Sur province, 210 kilometres south-east of Manila.

Beijing  - Police in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou have arrested 11 suspects in an illegal gambling network linked via the internet to a casino in the Philippines, state media said on Thursday.

A local businessman, identified only by the surname Li, set up the network last March after meeting representatives of the unidentified casino during a gambling trip to Macao, the official China Daily quoted police as saying.

Manila - A Singaporean terrorist suspect has been working with Muslim militants holding captive three Red Cross workers on a southern Philippine island, officials said Thursday.

The Singaporean suspect has been with the Muslim Abu Sayyaf rebels since the start of the hostage crisis on Jolo island, 1,000 kilometres south of Manila, more than two months ago.

"We confirmed that a Singaporean terrorist is with the group," National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales said. "We identified the Singaporean in one of the cellular phone conversations."

Manila  - A Philippine Red Cross official on Wednesday asked Muslim militants to prove that they did not behead one of three abducted Red Cross workers after the government ignored their demand for a troop pullout on a southern island.

Senator Richard Gordon, chairman of the Philippine National Red Cross, asked the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf rebels to allow him to talk to the three Red Cross captives on Jolo island, 1,000 kilometres south of Manila.

Gaza/Cairo - Representatives of rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah returned to Cairo on Tuesday to resume talks on forming a "national unity" government, representatives of the groups said.

Egyptian-mediated talks between Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction, which controls the West Bank, were scheduled to resume on Tuesday, ahead of a broader meeting including more factions on Wednesday.

Manila  - Seventeen people were killed when communist rebels attacked a military outpost in the southern Philippines on Tuesday, an army spokesman said.

An undetermined number of guerrillas swooped down on an army patrol base in Malaybalay City in Bukidnon province, 855 kilometres south of Manila, according to Major Michele Anayron.

Anayron said troops manning the outpost clashed with the rebels, killing 11 of them.