RP wants exiled rebels to face charges

RP wants exiled rebels to face charges

PHILIPPINES: The Philippine government is studying how to seek
the return from the Netherlands of an exiled communist leader on
murder charges in the absence of an extradition treaty, an
official said on Wednesday.

Communist Party of the Philippines founder Jose Maria Sison
and seven communist guerrilla leaders were charged on Tuesday in
connection with the assassination of a lawmaker two years ago.
Sison denied the charges.

But Dutch Justice Ministry spokesman Victor Holtus said on
Wednesday the government had not received an extradition request
nor had any contact with the Philippines.

The charges against Sison, who has lived in the Dutch city of
Utrecht since 1987, are seen as part of President Gloria
Macapagal Arroyo's talk-and-fight approach to the 34-year-old
Marxist rebellion, considered the main security threat and a key
impediment to economic development in the impoverished Southeast
Asian nation. --AP