Two offers given for peace talks

Two offers given for peace talks

GENERAL SANTOS, Philippines (AFP): The Philippine government yesterday offered to back rebel leader Nur Misuari for the top position in a proposed Moslem autonomous region, in a bid to make headway in peace talks.

As the three-day round of negotiations entered its second day, the two sides remained apart on a negotiated settlement to more than two decades of Islamic insurgency in the country's south.

Chief state negotiator Manuel Yan told a news conference his panel made two offers to Misuari, including a pledge of the resources of President Fidel Ramos's powerful political party should he decide to run for governor in a proposed autonomous region.

Manila also said Congress would pass an act to expand coverage of the existing autonomous region -- now comprising four provinces and which Misuari's Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) never recognized -- provided the residents of the areas to be included agreed in a plebiscite.

Opposition to the creation of an expanded autonomous region is strong among the Christian majority in the major southern island of Mindanao, where the MNLF wants to rule through a provisional government encompassing 13 provinces and nine cities.