RP peace talks marred by Canadian's death
RP peace talks marred by Canadian's death
MANILA (Agencies): The Philippines yesterday reported successes in peace talks with Moslem rebels and the battle against Islamic radicals, but the killing of a Canadian mining executive by communist guerrillas marred the triumph.
President Fidel Ramos said government negotiators have advised him of an "apparent breakthrough" in peace talks with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) to end more than two decades of fighting in the southern island of Mindanao.
He said in a news conference that the progress in the three- year-old negotiations was relayed to him from Jakarta by Manuel Yan, Manila's chief peace negotiator, but did not provide details.
Filipino and MNLF negotiators met in Jakarta on Monday and Tuesday for a "consultative meeting" along with representatives from the powerful Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) which is brokering the talks.
Indonesia heads the OIC's ministerial committee of six dealing with the Moslem rebellion in the southern Philippines.
Ramos did not say if the breakthrough included acceptance by MNLF leader Nur Misuari of Manila's proposal to head a "council for peace and development" that would spearhead Mindanao's economic development.
The MNLF has opposed Manila's desire to ask residents of these provinces and cities, most of whom are Christians, whether they want to be under Moslem rule.
On the battlefront, Philippine marines and helicopters attacked a camp of the Moro rebel group Abu Sayyaf in the southern island of Jolo on Tuesday, killing six gunmen, the military said.
A soldier was also killed and another wounded in fighting between the towns of Patikul and Talipao.
Soldiers also captured a large camp held by another Moslem guerrilla faction, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, in the southern town of Carmen.
Troops recovered mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and ammunition from the camp, but no casualties were reported.
Meanwhile, a Canadian geologist was killed when a helicopter surveying an Australian copper and gold mining project was shot at several times over the northern Philippines.
Several other mining experts, including another Canadian, were unharmed but the helicopter was damaged after it was hit by ground fire on Tuesday over Kasibu municipality in the mountainous region 190 kilometers north of Manila, they said.
Police said they did not know who shot at the helicopter or what the motive was.
The Canadian embassy in Manila identified the dead Canadian as Colin Spence from the British Columbia area.
The experts were conducting a survey of the Didipio mining project in Kasibu when it was fired at. Climax Mining Ltd and its subsidiary Arimco Mining Corp own a 92 percent interest in the project.