RP to stop talks if MILF behind bombing<\/p>\n
Reuters, Koronadal, Philippines<\/p>\n
The Philippine government will call off peace talks with the
\ncountry's largest Muslim rebel group if the militants were found
\nresponsible for a bomb attack this week, officials said on
\nFriday.<\/p>\n
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, speaking at the site of
\nThursday's bomb attack in the southern Philippine town of
\nKoronadal, vowed to prosecute those responsible. Three people
\nwere killed and 25 wounded in the blast near a market.<\/p>\n
\"Nothing in the peace process will deter us from punishing
\nterrorists and bringing them to justice,\" she told a crowd
\ngathered at the market.<\/p>\n
In a separate statement issued by the presidential palace,
\nArroyo said: \"This event will not deter us from preparations for
\nthe peace negotiations, unless the MILF is proven to be
\ninvolved.\"<\/p>\n
Asked if Arroyo would set aside peace talks if the Moro
\nIslamic Liberation Front (MILF) was involved in the Koronadal
\nbombing, her spokesman, Ignacio Bunye, told reporters: \"That's
\ncorrect\".<\/p>\n
Just hours after Arroyo spoke at Koronadal, a man was shot
\ndead by police when he tried to detonate two grenades at a public
\nmarket in neighboring Kidapawan City, police said.<\/p>\n
Police were interrogating the man's six companions.<\/p>\n
The MILF, fighting for a Muslim homeland in the south of the
\nmostly Catholic nation for three decades, has denied any
\ninvolvement in the Koronadal bombing.<\/p>\n
Stalled peace negotiations between the government and the MILF
\nare due to resume later this month, with the help of Malaysia,
\nwhich has offered to broker the talks.<\/p>\n
The military said it was still investigating who might have
\nbeen behind the blast, but a provincial governor hinted on
\nThursday that another rebel group, known for its kidnap-for-
\nransom activity, Abu Sayyaf, might have been involved.<\/p>\n
\"We're still investigating everything. What I mean is we are
\nnot discounting the possibility of the involvement of the MILF
\nand the Abu Sayyaf,\" Lt. Col. Daniel Lucero, armed forces public
\ninformation chief, told reporters. The military has launched
\nairstrikes in the neighboring province of Sultan Kudarat after
\nreports that an Abu Sayyaf leader have landed there. Washington
\nhas offered a reward of up to US$5 million for information
\nleading to the capture of the man and three others.<\/p>",
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