Extremist threat haunts RP peace talks

Extremist threat haunts RP peace talks

MANILA (Reuter): The Philippines and the country's biggest
rebel group resume talks in Jakarta next week haunted by threats
of extremist violence if they fail to reach agreement on ending a
23-year Moslem revolt for self-rule.

"I hope the idea that time is running out will dawn on the
government...If we can't solve this problem now, the next peace
talks will be in the next century," Moslem rebel officer Abraham
Iribani said yesterday.

The Nov. 27-Dec. 1 meeting will mark the third round of formal
talks between President Fidel Ramos' government and the
mainstream Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

The talks are taking place against a backdrop of growing
anxiety in Manila over possible violence from radical groups
demanding a separate Islamic state in this overwhelmingly Roman
Catholic country.

Presidential national security adviser Jose Almonte told
reporters the government was viewing the situation with "much
concern and seriousness" in light of manpower and arms buildup by
guerrilla factions not involved in the negotiations.

Headed by former university professor Nur Misuari, the MNLF
launched the uprising in 1972 on southern Mindanao island.

Located 800 kilometers south of Manila, Mindanao is the
ancestral home of the country's five million Moslem minority, a
region rich in minerals and a major producer of rice, grain and
meat that help feed this country of 68 million.

Misuari has abandoned secession and is now negotiating for
autonomy with the backing of the Organization of Islamic
Conference (OIC), which is mediating the Jakarta talks.

The army estimates that at least 50,000 people have been
killed in the separatist war. MNLF puts the toll at 200,000.

Misuari's leadership has been challenged by three factions,
primarily the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which the
government considers more potentially dangerous than the MNLF.

Distancing itself from a cease-fire between the army and
Misuari's 16,000-strong force, the MILF has strengthened its army
to an estimated 5,000 to 8,000 men while beefing up its firepower
with guns acquired from Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Two smaller groups, the Abu Sayyaf fundamentalists and the
National Islamic Command Council, composed of young Moslem
militants and MNLF veterans, are also waiting in the wings.

A bloody raid carried out jointly by the Abu Sayyaf and the
Islamic Command in April on the Christian town of Ipil, in which
53 largely unarmed civilians were killed, is likely to haunt the
talks.

Officials warn of similar attacks if negotiations fail.

"(We) have taken the position that we should be prepared for
every eventuality," Defense Secretary Renato de Villa said.

Negotiators remain deadlocked on two major points that are at
the heart of the autonomy issue.

The rebels want traditionally Moslem areas now dominated by
Christians included in an MNLF-led autonomy zone and oppose
government insistence that the scheme be put to a popular vote,
fearing Christian residents in the area will reject it.