Estrada to meet rebel chief<\/p>\n
MANILA (Reuters): President Joseph Estrada said on Saturday he
\nwill meet the head of a Moslem rebel group this month to try to
\nbring peace to the southern Philippines.<\/p>\n
"We have agreed to meet to once and for all end the conflict
\nfor the sake of the welfare of Mindanao," Estrada said in his
\nweekly radio program, referring to the chairman of the Moro
\nIslamic Liberation Front (MILF), Hashim Salamat.<\/p>\n
He said the meeting would probably take place this month.<\/p>\n
The government signed a cease fire with the MILF earlier this
\nweek, part of the preparations for formal peace talks later this
\nmonth. The cease fire ended days of fighting that has killed
\ndozens and displaced thousands of families in the southern
\nPhilippines.<\/p>\n
The MILF is a breakaway faction of a larger Moslem rebel group
\nthat signed a peace accord with the government in 1996. Moslem
\nrebels have been fighting for an independent Islamic state in the
\nsouthern Philippines since the early 1970s. Some 120,000 people
\nhave died in the conflict.<\/p>",
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"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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