Talks with rebels may resume July 1: RP

Talks with rebels may resume July 1: RP

Agencies, Manila/Putra Jaya, Malaysia

The Philippines said on Thursday it may resume peace talks with Moro rebels by July 1 but warned their hoarding of explosives could imperil efforts to end three decades of violence that has killed at least 125,000 people.

Foreign Secretary Blas Ople said the military might match a 24-day-old cease-fire by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in support of the negotiations to be held in Malaysia, which will reprise its role as broker between Manila and the rebels.

President Gloria Arroyo challenged the rebels to name the source of the explosives, identify the intended targets and clarify whether foreigners were involved in smuggling them in.

Arroyo said soldiers seized two huge caches of bomb-making ingredients in MILF-controlled areas of Mindanao in recent days, including piles of C-4 plastic explosive "larger than the entire C-4 inventory of the armed forces".

"Whether the peace process will move forward or lag behind is largely in the hands of the MILF," she told reporters. "We are preparing for the start of peace talks but this does not mean we are being tactically blind to events."

The United States, a key ally of the Philippines that has given funding and training for counter-terrorism operations, will play "a consultative role" in the peace process, Ople said.

The last round of formal talks between Manila and the MILF, the largest group fighting for an Islamic homeland in the south of the overwhelmingly Roman Catholic nation, broke down in 2001.

Ople said Malaysia would have the "central role of facilitating and mediating the talks" -- the same part it played in previous rounds of peace negotiations.

"The talks are supposed to resume in Kuala Lumpur, if possible before July 1," Ople told reporters after attending a meeting on security issues chaired by Arroyo. "The cease-fire ought to be in place on or about that date."

Malaysia has not yet decided whether to send a cease-fire observer team to the Philippines as requested by Arroyo, the foreign minister said on Thursday.

Syed Hamid Albar said the Philippines had asked Malaysia to take the lead in sending a team to monitor a cease-fire between MILF and the Philippines.

"I will be responding to the Philippines request once I get the mandate from the government," he said. He declined to reveal when the government would make an announcement.