Philippines nabs accused coup plotter

MANILA, Nov 15 (Reuters) A fugitive former colonel and senator accused of masterminding a coup plot against Philippines President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was arrested today, authorities said.

Gregorio ''Gringo'' Honasan, implicated in nearly every coup bid hatched in the Philippines in the past 20 years, was caught a couple of hours after midnight in Manila after police spent weeks tracking him through intercepted mobile phone calls.

''His fingerprints are always in every attempt at destabilisation,'' Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said. ''We have spent so much time and resources to get him. Now we can proceed with the process,'' Prosecutors want to question Honasan, hailed as a hero of the ''people power'' uprising that toppled dictator Ferdinand Marcos in 1986, over an alleged conspiracy by rogue troops, political foes and communists to oust Arroyo in February.

The two-time senator is currently being detained in a hospital inside the Philippines' main police camp after he gashed his foot jumping from the second floor of a house during the raid.

''He will be treated as an ordinary prisoner. There will be no VIP treatment for him, but we will accord him respect as a former senator,'' national police chief Oscar Calderon told a news conference.

Honasan had been in hiding since February 23, the eve of planned protests by leftist activists against Arroyo that the government has said were to be used by some soldiers to withdraw support for the president and spark an uprising against her.

State prosecutors have charged 45 people in connection with February's alleged plot, including four communist guerrilla leaders, a former ambassador, a former state university president and more than 20 soldiers and police officers.

Many analysts suspected Arroyo, who has defeated two impeachments bids over allegations of vote-rigging and corruption, of ramping up the alleged conspiracy against her to allow security forces wider scope to crack down on her enemies.

The Southeast Asian country is no stranger to rumoured and actual plots after more than a dozen coup attempts in the last two decades and popular revolts that ousted presidents in 1986 and 2001 with the backing of generals and powerful bishops.

Honasan is already facing rebellion charges over a failed mutiny by young officers in 2003.

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