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.