RP's NPA and MILF agree to help each other<\/p>\n
Agencies, Manila<\/p>\n
The Philippines' two biggest rebel groups have agreed to help
\neach other fight the government but have not combined their
\nforces for joint attacks, a senior rebel leader said on Monday.<\/p>\n
Communist spokesman Gregorio Rosal, in a radio interview, also
\nwarned that U.S. troops would be \"legitimate targets\" if they
\nmoved into strongholds of the leftist New People's Army (NPA)
\nwhile training Philippine soldiers in counter-terrorism.<\/p>\n
The NPA, which is fighting for a Marxist state, and the Moro
\nIslamic Liberation Front (MILF), the country's biggest Muslim
\nseparatist group, each have about 12,000 fighters.<\/p>\n
The United States has blacklisted the Marxist group as a
\nterrorist organization.<\/p>\n
Rosal said the NPA and the MILF had not reached the stage of
\ncoordinated attacks but they were cooperating in training and in
\nprotecting each other's fighters if attacked.<\/p>\n
\"The field commanders also work with each other. If one is on
\nthe retreat then the other shelters him,\" he said on Radio
\nVeritas, a station run by the Roman Catholic church.<\/p>\n
\"I don't know of any discussions to hold joint operations.
\nThat is a little difficult. That is still in the planning stage.\"<\/p>\n
Some officials have suggested a bombing on March 4 that killed
\n21 people in the southern city of Davao might have been a joint
\noperation by the groups.<\/p>\n
The Philippines military has in the past accused the two
\ngroups of working together but this is the first confirmation of
\ncooperation from a senior rebel official.<\/p>\n
The communist rebels operate in small pockets all over the
\nPhilippines including in the south, where the MILF is one of a
\nrange of Muslim rebel groups fighting for autonomy.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Philippine President Gloria Arroyo is to seek
\nMalaysia's help to bring Filipino Muslim separatists to the
\nnegotiating table and end escalating violence in the southern
\nPhilippines, sources said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\"The president will dispatch a special envoy tomorrow to meet
\nwith the acting Malaysian prime minister in a new bid to help end
\nthis bloodshed,\" a highly-placed source told AFP.<\/p>\n
Presidential envoy Roberto Romulo is scheduled to hold talks
\nwith acting Malaysian premier Abdullah Badawi in Kuala Lumpur
\nWednesday, the source said, adding that Manila wanted Malaysia to
\n\"play a more active role\" in the peace process instead of being a
\nmere \"facilitator.\"<\/p>\n
In another development, the United States has expressed
\nconcern that Iraqi militants in the Philippines could attack U.S.
\ninterests here if Washington moves to oust Saddam Hussein,
\nPhilippine Foreign Secretary Blas Ople said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\"They have expressed some anxiety about the Iraqi residents in
\nthe Philippines. And they're concerned that some of these Iraqis
\nwill try to harm U.S. government interests in the country,\" Ople
\ntold reporters.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/rps-npa-and-milf-agree-to-help-each-other-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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