Two slain in south Philippines

Two slain in south Philippines

SULTAN KUDARAT, Philippines (AFP): The Philippines government
and Moslem guerrillas adjourned peace talks here yesterday, as
another Moslem group raided a nearby village and killed two
farmers, officials said.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the government
agreed to resume preliminary talks in early April, said chief
MILF negotiator Ghadzali Jaafar and Fortunato Abat, head of the
Manila panel, in a joint statement.

The talks are aimed at bringing a political settlement to the
last remaining major insurgency in the southern Philippines, home
to a large Islamic minority. The Moro National Liberation Front
(MNLF), the biggest Moslem group, signed a peace treaty with
Manila last year.

The talks, which resumed Tuesday, were marred by an attack by
about 100 alleged members of the MNLF on a village near the
southern town of Isulan on Wednesday which left two farmers dead
as well as eight guerrillas and two farmers wounded, an army
spokesman said.