Manila is arranging a prisoner swap agreement with Indonesia to appease followers of Indonesian militant, Agus Dwikarna, who have threatened to harm Filipinos in Indonesia if the Philippine government continues to detain their leader.

According to presidential adviser on special concerns, Norberto Gonzales, Manila and Jakarta are mapping out plans to trade Dwikarna with an unnamed Filipino who is languishing in jail in Indonesia.

Dwikarna was sentenced two weeks ago to serve 17 years in prison by a regional trial court in Manila's suburb of Pasay City that found him guilty of possessing explosives and a fire arm.

The Indonesian was arrested on March 17 at Ninoy Aquino international airport while he was about to leave for Bangkok.

Dwikarna is considered a ranking dissident in Indonesia and reports said that Philippine authorities apprehended him at the behest of Jakarta.

Dwikarna, a civil engineer by profession, has admitted to being the fourth in command of the Indonesian Mujahideen Council (MMI), an umbrella organisation of militant groups that are calling for th implementation of the Islamic law in Indonesia. MMI is suspected to have ties with international extremist groups.

The militant's followers have been holding demonstrations in Indonesia's Sulawesi province to pressure Manila to free him.

Gonzales was explicit in saying that the aim of the prisoner swap was to calm down Dwikarna's sympathisers.

"We are exploring the possibility of turning over Dwikarna to Indonesia. But that doesn't mean he will go scot-free. Instead, he will be detained in Indonesia," Gonzales explained.

He said the Arroyo government "has thought of the prisoner swap in the wake of the threat of Dwikarna's comrades and sympathisers to abduct Filipino workers in Indonesia".

However, there is still no prisoner exchange treaty between Jakarta and Manila despite both countries' membership in a regional grouping against terrorism that also includes Cambodia and Malaysia.

Gonzales visited Indonesia last week on President Arroyo's instruction, to assure the Indonesian authorities that Dwikarna will be entitled to a fair trial.

Gonzales said he met high Indonesian officials in an effort to ease tension between the two countries over the arrest of Dwikarna and his two Indonesian companions.

Two other Indonesians and a Thai who were apprehended, along with Dwikarna, on March 17 were released by Philippine authorities for lack of evidence.

Intelligence reports in Manila point to increasing cooperation between southern Philippines-based extremists and their Indonesian counterparts.

On January 15, Fathur Rahman Al Ghozi, a member of the extremist group Jumaah Islamiya, was arrested in Manila.

Al Ghozi's capture led to the seizure of more than a ton of dynamite hidden underground in southern Philippines General Santos City.

The cache of explosives, according to intelligence reports, was supposed to have been used by the Jeemaah Islamiya to bomb U.S. interests in south-east Asia.