"We understand through our simple inquiry that these firearms come from the (government) arsenal," said Eid Kabalu, spokesman of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which has been waging a guerilla war for the last 25 years.

Some 300 soliders had barricaded themselves in the Makati financial center in Manila for more than 20 hours on Sunday, booby-trapping the area and demanding that President Gloria Arroyo and other top officials step down for allegedly colluding with rebel groups and engaging in terrorism.

The MILF was cited as among rebel groups to which the military leadership was selling arms as part of the corruption allegations.

Kabalu stressed however that he was "sure there was no collusion" between the Muslim rebels and the government and that it was likely that only individual soldiers were selling guns and ammunition to rebels.

"There's no direct links between the MILF and the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines). We do buy firearms and ammunition, not necessarily from the AFP," directly, he said.

He remarked that in the southern Philippines, where the MILF has been waging its guerrilla war, weapons were "a prime commodity, very much in demand.

"We do not bother ourselves to determine the source of the materials."

The mutineers also accused top defence officials of masterminding terrorist bombings in the south and blaming it on the MILF in an apparent bid to extract more aid from the United States in the war against terror.

But Kabalu said he had no knowledge that the government was behind any of the recent bombings in the south although he reiterated MILF denials they carried out the deadly blasts.

Earlier this month, the MILF and the government agreed to a ceasefire to pave the way for the resumption of formal peace talks in Malaysia.

Arroyo earlier said talks could resume by next week but Kabalu said there was no set date for the new negotiations.

WAR.WIRE