RP peace talks open after bomb blast<\/p>\n
SULTAN KUDARAT, Philippines (Reuter): A government panel and
\nbreakaway Islamic rebels opened preliminary talks yesterday on
\nending bloodshed in the southern Philippines, hours after
\nextremists bombed a cinema, wounding at least 14 people.<\/p>\n
Retired army Gen. Fortunato Abat and chief rebel negotiator
\nMoner Bajunaid embraced each other in a heavily-guarded building
\nto start the talks between the Manila government and the Moro
\nIslamic Liberation Front (MILF).<\/p>\n
The MILF is a breakaway faction of the mainstream Moro
\nNational Liberation Front (MNLF), with which President Fidel
\nRamos' administration concluded a separate peace deal last
\nOctober.<\/p>\n
Hours before the talks started, a home-made bomb exploded in a
\ncrowded cinema in the largely Christian city of Iligan, 110
\nkilometers (70 miles) to the north, wounding 14, police said.<\/p>\n
Police said they suspected either Moslem extremists or leftist
\nguerrillas for the Monday night attack, which occurred during the
\nshowing of the Hollywood movie \"Time to Kill.\"<\/p>\n
Most of the victims, who included a Finnish national, were
\ninjured in a stampede after the explosion, police said.<\/p>\n
\"There are groups who are not happy over the ongoing talks,\"
\npolice senior superintendent Ernanito Baul told Reuters. He said
\nthe bombers apparently wanted to derail them.<\/p>\n
Government forces and the MILF will discuss the ground rules
\nfor a ceasefire at the Sultan Kudarat talks with formal peace
\nnegotiations expected to get under way after the end of Ramadan,
\nthe Moslem fasting month which starts in mid-January.<\/p>\n
The MILF is one of two groups fighting for an Islamic state in
\nthe Mindanao region, which the largely Christian country's five
\nmillion Moslem minority regards as its ancestral homeland.<\/p>\n
The fundamentalist Abu Sayyaf group has shunned talks with
\nManila. The military has blamed it for bombings, kidnappings and
\nraids on Christian towns in the past three years.<\/p>\n
The mainstream MNLF, considered the most moderate of the three
\ngroups, spearheaded a 24-year revolt for Moslem autonomy which
\nended with the October peace accord. About 125,000 people died in
\nthe MNLF-led uprising.<\/p>\n
As part of his peace deal with Manila, MNLF chairman Nur
\nMisuari heads a four-province semi-autonomous region in the south
\nand is chairman of a development council which will supervise
\ndevelopment projects in a wide area of Mindanao.<\/p>\n
\"We are here because we all want peace,\" Abat told the opening
\nsession of the technical committee talks.<\/p>\n
Abat said he would recommend to Manila a 60-day extension of a
\nunilateral ceasefire announced in November after skirmishes
\nbetween the army and the MILF on Basiland island.<\/p>\n
Bajunaid voiced hope the talks \"will get us closer towards a
\ngenuine and lasting peace acceptable to the (Moslem) people\".<\/p>\n
The military estimates MILF strength at between 6,000 and
\n8,000 men and that of the Abu Sayyaf at several hundred. The MILF
\nsays it has 80,000 fighters.<\/p>",
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