Moro rebels ready for peace talks with govt

Moro rebels ready for peace talks with govt

COTABATO, Philippines (AFP): Moro guerrillas in the southern Philippines yesterday said they were ready to begin formal peace talks with the government, despite a weekend clash which left 10 dead near here.

Ruben Torres, chief aide of President Fidel Ramos, said in Manila that an emissary from the Moslem guerrillas had explained to him "that government should not worry so much about this (fighting). This will not derail the discussion that we are having."

Ten people were killed on Saturday and Sunday after an army battalion repulsed two successive MILF raids on the military detachment guarding the project site.

The military shelled neighboring villages in retaliation, leaving 81 others injured.

Army spokesman Lt. Noel Detoyato said the MILF planned to seize the dam project site and use it as leverage in the planned peace talks.

The military reported sporadic small arms fire but no further casualties yesterday around a Japan-funded irrigation dam project near the town of Carmen, the bone of contention of the weekend clash with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

"We have accepted the government's message of peace. We won't ignite war," Al Haj Murad, the military affairs chief of the 10,000-member MILF guerrilla army said over Roman Catholic radio station DXMS here.

Torres, who has helped facilitate previous peace talks with Moslem guerrillas, said the MILF leadership promised they would not let the violence prevent preliminary talks with Manila.

He added that they hoped to hold a meeting with the MILF by next week.

Manila is seeking a peace settlement with the MILF to end 24 years of rebellion by the Moslem minority in the southern region of Mindanao. The government last month signed a peace accord with the Moro National Liberation Front, from which the MILF separated in 1977.

The two sides have yet to set a timetable for the negotiations.

"We are warning you to desist from advancing because we will hit back and we will hit back really hard," he said.

However, Murad rejected the charge.