RP government offers Moros cease-fire<\/p>\n
DAVAO, Philippines (AFP): The Philippine government has
\noffered a cease-fire to a Moro rebel faction in the south, where
\nbusinessmen pledged US$1.5 billion in investments despite
\nsecurity concerns, a guerrilla leader said yesterday.<\/p>\n
Al Haj Murad, vice chairman for military affairs of the Moro
\nIslamic Liberation Front (MILF), said in the nearby city of
\nCotabato the offer was made through presidential Executive
\nSecretary Ruben Torres in a letter to his group Monday.<\/p>\n
Business leaders attending a conference that began here
\nyesterday welcomed the news, saying it will boost the peace
\naccord Manila signed with the bigger Moro National Liberation
\nFront (MNLF) last month that ended the MNLF's 24-year armed
\nstruggle for self-rule.<\/p>\n
Defense officials have said that the MILF, which split from
\nthe MNLF in 1977, is considered the most formidable remaining
\nthreat to peace in the region with 10,000 well-armed fighters.<\/p>\n
However, fighting continued for the fourth straight day
\nyesterday in the island of Basilan, where government planes
\nrocketing an MILF mountain lair to prepare for a ground assault,
\nthe military said.<\/p>\n
Manila's offer involved the signing of an interim truce and
\nthe creation of two technical committees, one to discuss ground
\nrules of the cease-fire and the other to tackle the talking
\npoints in proposed formal talks, Murad said.<\/p>\n
It was made following a series of clashes between the military
\nand the MILF in the southern provinces of Basilan and Cotabato.<\/p>\n
Southern Command spokesman Maj. Fredesvindo Covarrubias said
\nabout 20 rebels have been killed in the fighting. The government
\nsuffered several wounded but no deaths, he said.<\/p>\n
\"We are still studying the proposal,\" said Murad, interviewed
\nover Roman Catholic radio station DXMS in Cotabato. He added that
\nthe group wanted the \"ground rules\" on how the cease-fire will be
\nconducted to be set first before any signing.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, some 500 foreign and Filipino business leaders
\nbegan a three-day business conference in this booming southern
\ncity yesterday, saying they are due to agree to invest 42 billion
\npesos ($1.5 billion) in Mindanao.<\/p>\n
Federico Pascual, head of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce
\nand Industry, said the chamber had received commitments that
\njoint venture and other deals would be signed at the end of the
\nannual Philippine Business Conference.<\/p>\n
Pascual would not name the companies or the areas where they
\nare investing.<\/p>\n
But he said that a substantial amount of the commitments --
\naimed at transforming resources-rich Mindanao into an economic
\ndynamo -- would come from the Philippines' Moslem neighbors
\nBrunei, Indonesia and Malaysia.<\/p>\n
Businessmen said they were encouraged to invest here by the
\npeace agreement, which provided for the creation of a zone of
\npeace and development in 14 southern provinces and nine cities.<\/p>\n
President Fidel Ramos this week named MNLF chieftain Nur
\nMisuari as head of a council that will coordinate development
\nprojects.<\/p>\n
In another development, gunmen kidnapped an 11-year-old boy
\nfrom a department store in the town of Esperanza near Cotabato on
\nWednesday, highlighting the threats posed by kidnap and other
\ncriminal gangs on potential investors.<\/p>\n
Gino Goroy, the son of a petrol dealer, was the 32nd kidnap
\nvictim this year in the central Mindanao region, which the
\nauthorities admit hosts about a million firearms, half of which
\nare in the hands of rebel groups and crime gangs.<\/p>\n
The abduction came a day after suspected Moslem bandits
\ndemanded 30 million pesos ($1.15 million) for the release of a
\ncouple and their three-year-old son they kidnapped on Tuesday.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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