Government-NDF talks in Oslo uncertain

Norway expressed uncertainty yesterday about hosting the peace talks between the Philippine government and communist rebels, saying it still does not know what the two sides would need.

Leaders of the communist National Democratic Front (NDF) announced yesterday they would meet government officials on April 27 in the city of Oslo, the Norwegian capital, for talks on ending a decades-old rebellion.

But Norwegian officials said it still has to receive any request to host the talks.

"We have not had any formal request," said Norway’s acting Foreign Ministry spokesman Victor Roenneberg. "If we appear a little standoffish, it is because we would want to be sure that we would be able to contribute something."

NDF chief negotiator Luis Jalandoni also said yesterday that communist guerrillas will not immediately lay down their arms even if a settlement is reached in ending the 30-year Marxist insurgency.

"We can achieve a just and lasting peace ... and there can be all kinds of arrangements, but we do not have in mind the laying down of arms," he said.

President Arroyo said no decision has been made on the venue for the peace talks. "Actually we haven’t said it’s Norway. The question of the venue for the peace talks is still open," she told reporters in Zamboanga City.

The Cabinet’s Cluster E will meet today to discuss the matter, she added.

Jalandoni categorically said that his group has agreed with government to hold the talks in Oslo.

"It’s going to push through in Oslo," he said right after meeting with government negotiator Silvestre Bello III.

Jalandoni said it was his group which proposed Norway to be the venue of the talks since the Norwegian government had expressed willingness to host the negotiations six years ago.

He added that Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) chairman Jose Ma. Sison and fellow NDF negotiators Connie Ledesma and Fidel Agcaoili went to the Norwegian embassy in the Netherlands five days ago to secure Norway’s formal commitment to host the peace talks.

"Six years ago Norway expressed willingness and readiness to help and host the talks. They have the prestige and experience in hosting peace negotiations," he said.

However, Norway’s Roenneberg said they have only been in touch informally with Philippine authorities about any support that they may give to the talks.

He pointed out that both the Philippine government and the rebels have to show an interest and willingness to seek a peaceful solution before Norway would assume a mediator’s role in the conflict.

"If they just want technical support and a place to have a meeting, that is one thing. But we think they may want more, such as a mediator," Roenneberg said.

Norway, a Scandinavian nation of 4.5 million people, has been a key peace broker in many conflicts, including in the Middle East, Sri Lanka and Guatemala.

But Roenneberg said Norway was very reluctant to jump into new peace efforts. He also said the two sides in the Philippine conflict had received feelers for such support from other nations, including Norway’s neighbor Sweden.

Meanwhile, Jalandoni said that the rebel negotiating panel has not been authorized by the communist movement to include arms surrender as part of an agreement.

"If the root causes of the armed conflict are addressed adequately and substantive agreements are formulated and implemented, we can arrive at the issue of the end of hostilities, but here we see it only as a possibility of a truce – each side holding onto its weapons while the agreements are carried out," he said.

"If later, after, let’s say, in three or four years after all these agreements have been signed and things have changed - the negotiating panel will have another type of mandate," he said.

Jalandoni on the whole was more upbeat about making progress in the talks with President Arroyo than under her predecessor, Joseph Estrada, who had an "all-out war" policy toward rebel groups.

Bilateral ceasefire

Re-electionist Sen. Sergio Osmeña III called on the government and the NDF to forge a bilateral ceasefire agreement as they prepare to resume their peace negotiations.

Osmeña said real peace would only be achieved if the two sides will both suspend offensive operations.

"The cessation of hostilities is very important. The ceasefire should be a mutual declaration between the two sides. The two parties should declare it as part of their confidence-building measures."

President Arroyo declared a suspension of military operations against the CPP and the NDF and on their armed wing, the New People’s Army.

She also stopped military offensives against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which is fighting for a separate Muslim state in Mindanao.

However, the unilateral truce Mrs. Arroyo declared on the communist rebels in the Southern Luzon region will expire today and Osmeña is urging the President to call for a bilateral ceasefire agreement.

As this developed, National Security Adviser Roilo Golez said the Cabinet will discuss the possibility of declaring a ceasefire on all communist rebels throughout the country.

He said this is in response to the release by the NPA of Army Maj. Noel Buan last week. "Because of Major Buan’s release, we are now studying a nationwide ceasefire. This is a good step and I believe we will reach that stage," he said. – Paolo Romero, Marichu Villanueva