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.