Gov't, MILF resume peace talks

ZAMBOANGA CITY - The government and the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) agreed yesterday to resume peace talks scuttled by fierce clashes during which the military seized a key rebel camp, officials said.

Government negotiators and MILF leaders signed an agreement in Cagayan de Oro City setting the resumption of negotiations on March 1.

"I told them we must move forward and forget what has happened," said Edgardo Batenga, a former Army general who heads the government negotiating panel.

"We arrived at the decision to save the peace process," said Lanang Ali, legal counsel of the MILF. He said Batenga and his MILF counterpart, Aleem Abdulaziz Mimbantas, forged the agreement.

Ali, however, said there was a need to "redeclare" a ceasefire agreement signed in July 1997 to prevent skirmishes from derailing negotiations in the future.

President Estrada said he has sent his personal emissary, Secretary Robert Aventajado, who heads the Presidential Committee on Flagship Projects, to meet with MILF chairman Hashim Salamat to discuss an end to the conflict.

Mr. Estrada earlier said he was willing to meet Salamat when he visits Mindanao from Feb. 26 to March 2 as long as they would discuss only development projects in the South, not the MILF's secession bid.

The peace talks began last month and a second round was to have started Monday in Maguindanao. But a major military offensive against an important rebel stronghold, Camp Omar, set off clashes that resulted in the talks' suspension.

The military began attacking the camp last week after the guerrillas fired on an Army detachment and threatened to occupy a main road in Carmen town in nearby North Cotabato, the military said.

Mr. Estrada said the capture of the MILF camp clearly shows the military has the upperhand and "is ready to defend and (prevent) any violations of our Constitution and our laws."

"I think we have shown them we are not taking this as a joke and we mean business. As I have said before, I have given (the MILF) until June for these peace talks. If still nothing happens, we will implement what we have to implement," he said.

Armed Forces chief Gen. Angelo Reyes said the situation in Maguindanao has "stabilized," but added that while the government is committed to peace, it will not tolerate "serious violations of laws and ceasefire agreements" and harassments by rebel forces on innocent civilians.

Reyes presented a manifesto signed by Maguindanao Gov. Zacaria Candao and the mayors and councilors of at least five towns expressing support for the military's efforts to "neutralize all lawless elements, including the MILF."

Lt. Gen. Edgardo Espinosa, chief of the military's Southern Command, said government troops captured the MILF's Camp Omar Monday, with soldiers planting a Philippine flag in the rebel stronghold, the MILF's second largest enclave in Maguindanao.

Espinosa said soldiers destroyed bunkers and seized weapons such as anti-aircraft guns and grenade launchers in the camp and in surrounding rebel defense positions.

Military officials said the rebels suffered heavy casualties. A grave with the recently buried bodies of 16 guerrillas was discovered in the camp, they said.

Defense Secretary Orlando Mercado said the loss of the camp, which straddles two Maguindanao towns, was a major blow to the MILF. Many attacks on military detachments are carried out by rebels from the camp, he said.

The military is verifying intelligence information that four Egyptian nationals were monitored inside Camp Omar days before soldiers overran it.

The four aliens, identified as Mohammad Nasser, Hamal Bin Hayal, Akmad Negahid and Abdul Rakman Al Hasshiti, were reportedly seen conferring with MILF brigade commanders on a plan dubbed "Oplan Massive Attack," and the arrival of Al Haj Murad, MILF political affairs adviser, from the Middle East.

An MILF leader, Nash Abbas, denied the military had completely taken Camp Omar, but acknowledged that government troops were able to capture outer areas of the camp.

Abbas said they would protest the military attacks on the camp before a joint peace talks committee.

In the agreement signed in Cagayan de Oro, the two sides agreed to halt clashes in Maguindanao, North Cotabato and nearby Sultan Kudarat province, Batenga said.

A joint committee on cessation of hostilities will also be given stronger powers to enable it to prevent future fighting, he said.

The MILF has been battling the government since 1984 for an independent Islamic state in Mindanao.

A ceasefire signed in 1997 has been frequently broken, with each side accusing the other of violations.