July 30, 2000, The Philippine Star, Gov't-MILF talks reset to Aug. 15, by Edith Regalado,

July 30, 2000, The Philippine Star, Gov't-MILF talks reset to Aug. 15, by Edith Regalado,

Peace talks between the government and the secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which were to resume yesterday in Cotabato City, were postponed to Aug.15. The rebels also seemed to have softened on their demand for the talks to be held abroad, a condition which the government has consistently rejected.

"We have tentatively set the date for Aug. 15. Preparations are actually being made, many of which are not seen by the public. But certainly, things are being worked out between the two panels," said a source in the MILF central committee who requested anonymity. The committee is the MILF's decision-making body.

The venue of the resumption of the talks will either be Davao City or Metro Manila, the source said. The choice of venue is vital, he said, because they want the atmosphere "conducive to negotiations." Meanwhile, "hit-and-run tactics" by MILF rebels will continue as long as there is no ceasefire agreement, rebel spokesman Eid Kabalu said.

Twelve rebels and a militiaman were killed while five other people were wounded in new clashes in Mindanao as the rebels staged more attacks against civilians, the military said yesterday.

About 50 guerrillas attacked Nangaan village in Kabacan town, North Cotabato last Friday, triggering an hour-long gunbattle that left nine rebels and one militiaman dead, said Maj. Lito Aso, Army 6th Infantry Division spokesman.

Also, a bomb planted by suspected MILF rebels was found near an Iglesia ni Cristo church near a busy street in Kabacan and defused by policemen, officials said.

Believing the church was not being targeted, investigators said the rebels were probably planning to bomb a populated area in the town proper. They left the bomb in haste after sensing that security in the town was tight. Fashioned from a live 81-mm. mortar round and rigged to a timing device, the explosive was found in a bag that attracted the suspicion of passersby, who promptly called the police.

The bombing attempt came less than two weeks after a deadly explosion ripped through a busy market in Kabacan, killing four people and seriously wounding 37 others. Meanwhile, a rebel band raided a village in South Upi town in nearby Maguindanao the other day, seizing rice and other foodstuffs before fleeing, Aso said. Soldiers and militiamen pursued the rebels and killed three.

Yesterday, another band entered Calean village in Buluan town, also in Maguindanao, and burned several houses, a local official said. No one was hurt. They also burned a Philippine flag. Responding soldiers and militiamen forced the rebels to retreat.

Calean is inside the eight-hectare Camp Al Fateh, an MILF base which fell to the military on June 11. Local and military officials hoisted the flag in Calean after the capture of Al Fateh broke up the MILF's shadow government in the village.

Although the rebels said they are willing to resume the negotiations, suspended last month, they want the talks held abroad, preferably in Malaysia. National Security Adviser Alexander Aguirre said negotiators are making informal contacts with the rebels to convince them to resume the talks in the Philippines.

The government refuses to negotiate abroad, saying the Muslim insurgency is a domestic issue. MILF chief negotiator Alim Adulazis Mimbantas suggested that the agenda of the talks focus on an interim agreement discussed informally next month by rebel and government negotiators in Malaysia.

Kabalu said the proposed interim agreement only says that the two sides agree to discuss "comprehensive and permanent political solutions" to the insurgency. It says that both sides, not just the MILF, condemn "all human rights violations and terroristic acts and activities."

President Estrada last Monday vowed to crush the rebellion but said the government is willing to grant amnesty if the MILF lays down its arms and drop its 22-year-old secessionist struggle. Mr. Estrada wants to develop Mindanao into a major "food basket" once the insurgency is over.

But even the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), a Muslim rebel group that made peace with the government in 1996, accuses the Estrada administration of failing to keep its part of the deal. Randolph Parcasio, executive secretary of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), said a team of observers from the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) will arrive in the country to check the accord's  implementation.

Parcasio said they will prove to the observers that the government has been releasing the ARMM's funds "in trickles." ARMM Gov. Nur Misuari, the MNLF chieftain who signed the historic peace deal with the previous Ramos administration, complained recently to the OIC that government was not sincere in implementing the accord. The government denied Misuari's allegation. The OIC helped mediate the settlement and is overseeing its implementation. -- With reports from AFP, AP, John Unson, Allen Estabillo, Lino de la Cruz