Following marathon talks with negotiatiors, the rebel troops agreed to abandon the central Manila office block they had wired with explosives just before midnight Sunday and return to their barracks to face justice.

Among those to be investigated is opposition Senator Gregorio Honasan, a former army colonel who led seven bloody coup attempts in the 1980s, Interior Secretary Jose Lina said.

"His involvement is as clear as day," Lina told local radio.

Honasan has strongly denied involvement but he was present during negotiations that led the rebels to leave the plush apartment and shopping complex in the Makati financial district.

Police also alleged they had raided two houses owned by deposed jailed president Joseph Estrada and an aide from where the soldiers allegedly planned and staged the mutiny.

President Gloria Arroyo's national security adviser Roilo Golez said it was possible the soldiers, who accused Arroyo of corruption and staging terrorist attacks to win US aid, could have been "co-opted and exploited."

He said those found to have played a role in trying to unseat Arroyo would be "very aggressively" pursued.

The mutineers, in full uniform and still carrying their assault rifles, crates of explosives and rucksacks, left the Makati district on trucks for a nearby army base.

Arroyo hailed the outcome of the Southeast Asian nation's eighth military uprising in 17 years as a "triumph for democracy."

Some 200 rebel troops had seized the sprawling Ayala Center in Makati in the early hours of Sunday, accusing Arroyo and Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes of corruption and demanding their resignations. They denied it was a coup attempt.

Pro-government soldiers backed by armored cars encircled the complex, wired with explosives by the mutineers, as two separate deadlines ordering the rebels to surrender or face a military assault expired.

Around 300 foreigners and residents who had been trapped in the complex, including Australian ambassador Ruth Pearce, were allowed to leave at daybreak.

One of the mutiny's leaders, Lieutenant Senior Grade Antonio Trillantes, said Monday he was not happy with the outcome of the siege and that he was leaving his fate to his superiors.

"I doubt if true reforms can be implemented," he said. "These people will not change, despite what has happened."

He said he did not have any regrets, adding: "This was how to do it. This was how to be an officer."

Asked if would remain with the service if cleared, he said: "I'm not sure right now. I do not want to be part of an organization which refuses to reform."

WAR.WIRE