Rebels, police guard RP peace talks site

Rebels, police guard RP peace talks site

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines (Reuter): Moslem rebels joined Philippine police yesterday in guarding an hotel where the government and the guerrillas are to resume talks on ending a decades-old separatist conflict.

Armed with handguns but dressed in civilian clothes, the rebels helped police man checkpoints around Orchid Hotel where chief government negotiator Manuel Yan and guerrilla leader Nur Misuari are to start their meetings today.

The three-day informal meeting in Zamboanga city on the southern island of Mindanao will discuss the setting up of a provisional government to be formed after both sides have signed a peace treaty.

"We do not want to talk about war...we will try to evade it," a senior rebel officer, who asked not to be identified, told reporters when asked if the guerrilla war would resume should the peace talks fail.

"We don't want to put people to fire, Moslems or Christians, because we are one. The trend now is peace so we have to follow the trend."

More than 50,000 died in the 1970s at the height of the separatist war led by the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), the biggest of three rebel factions fighting for Moslem autonomy in the southern islands.

Fighting subsided after both sides signed a cease-fire agreement in 1986.

The Zamboanga talks will prepare for the third round of formal negotiations early next year in Indonesia, which hosted the first two rounds.

Police have deployed around 500 men to secure the streets around the conference venue. Each checkpoint is manned by five policemen and two rebels.

Misuari, the MNLF chairman who lives in exile in the Middle East, is expected to arrive in Zamboanga later on Sunday.