RP to stop talks if MILF behind bombing
RP to stop talks if MILF behind bombing
Reuters, Koronadal, Philippines
The Philippine government will call off peace talks with the country's largest Muslim rebel group if the militants were found responsible for a bomb attack this week, officials said on Friday.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, speaking at the site of Thursday's bomb attack in the southern Philippine town of Koronadal, vowed to prosecute those responsible. Three people were killed and 25 wounded in the blast near a market.
"Nothing in the peace process will deter us from punishing terrorists and bringing them to justice," she told a crowd gathered at the market.
In a separate statement issued by the presidential palace, Arroyo said: "This event will not deter us from preparations for the peace negotiations, unless the MILF is proven to be involved."
Asked if Arroyo would set aside peace talks if the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) was involved in the Koronadal bombing, her spokesman, Ignacio Bunye, told reporters: "That's correct".
Just hours after Arroyo spoke at Koronadal, a man was shot dead by police when he tried to detonate two grenades at a public market in neighboring Kidapawan City, police said.
Police were interrogating the man's six companions.
The MILF, fighting for a Muslim homeland in the south of the mostly Catholic nation for three decades, has denied any involvement in the Koronadal bombing.
Stalled peace negotiations between the government and the MILF are due to resume later this month, with the help of Malaysia, which has offered to broker the talks.
The military said it was still investigating who might have been behind the blast, but a provincial governor hinted on Thursday that another rebel group, known for its kidnap-for- ransom activity, Abu Sayyaf, might have been involved.
"We're still investigating everything. What I mean is we are not discounting the possibility of the involvement of the MILF and the Abu Sayyaf," Lt. Col. Daniel Lucero, armed forces public information chief, told reporters. The military has launched airstrikes in the neighboring province of Sultan Kudarat after reports that an Abu Sayyaf leader have landed there. Washington has offered a reward of up to US$5 million for information leading to the capture of the man and three others.