RP calls off talks with MILF rebels

RP calls off talks with MILF rebels

Agencies, Manila/Kuala Lumpur

The Philippines on Tuesday scrapped planned peace talks and
stepped up efforts to hunt down Muslim guerrillas blamed for a
weekend assault in which 34 people were killed and more than 20
wounded.

The government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)
had been scheduled to hold exploratory talks in Malaysia from
Friday, aimed at kick-starting the peace process.

But an attack by MILF guerrillas on Siocon town on the
southern island of Mindanao on Sunday prompted the government to
shelve the planned discussions.

"I have instructed our peace negotiators to inform the
Malaysian government of our wish to postpone the exploratory
talks in Kuala Lumpur until we can establish more auspicious
circumstances," President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said in a
statement.

Malaysia had offered to host the talks in a bid to end a
decades-old conflict between the government and the MILF. The
MILF is fighting for a separate Muslim state in the south of this
largely Roman Catholic country.

In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian defense minister Najib Razak on
Tuesday expressed hope that aborted peace talks between the
Philippines and Muslim separatists in southern Philippines will
be rescheduled soon.

Najib said Malaysia, which had played the role of a mediator,
was disappointed that the second round of exploratory peace talks
could not take place here as planned this week.

"We hope in due course the (peace talks) can be rescheduled. I
am waiting for an official response from the Philippine
government as to the reasons for the postponement," he was quoted
as saying by the official Bernama news agency.

Arroyo had hoped to use the influence of predominantly Muslim
Malaysia's Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad to convince the
restive Filipino Muslims to stop their alleged support of
terrorists, drop their independence bid and accept a government
offer of limited self-rule in the south.

Najib said that peace talks cannot be held if both sides were
fighting.

"It has been postponed until a suitable time. We'll call on
both parties to return to the negotiating table as soon as
possible," he said.

Najib said that Kuala Lumpur was committed to finding a
solution to the crisis.

MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu has said the weekend attack in
Siocon was a defensive response to the military's stepped-up
campaign against the group.

Arroyo said it was a terrorist act and ordered the armed
forces to hunt down MILF members responsible for it.

"We shall pursue an all-out legal offensive against the
leaders of the MILF, while conducting punitive action against the
direct perpetrators of terrorist acts," she said.

On Monday the government offered a reward of 50 million pesos
(US$960,000) for information leading to the capture of MILF
leaders accused of organizing the Siocon attack.

A court had previously issued arrest warrants for the leaders,
who are accused of masterminding bomb attacks that killed a total
of 38 people at an airport and a ferry terminal in southern Davao
City in March and April.

The MILF's Kabalu, who is on the government's arrest list,
said Manila's decision to offer a bounty for its leaders was
likely to disrupt peace talks, but said the group remained
committed to working for a peaceful resolution of the Mindanao
problem.

The MILF has clashed frequently with the military following an
army offensive launched earlier this year against one of its
strongholds on Mindanao.

Armed Forces vice-chief Lt. Gen. Rodolfo Garcia said a study
group was mulling over whether to declare the MILF a terrorist
organization, after a string of attacks on civilians.

Presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye said on television on
Tuesday: "That was discussed yesterday but no consensus was
reached. That is always an option but would be availed of as a
last resort."