US sabotaging talks with Reds — Ka Roger

Communist rebels accused the United States yesterday of "sabotaging" the government’s peace talks with the National Democratic Front (NDF) and secessionists in Mindanao to allow American troops to take part in combat operations against the New People’s Army (NPA) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

NPA spokesman Gregorio "Ka Roger" Rosal said the Arroyo administration allowed "exploratory talks" with the NDF to collapse to pave the way for increased US military intervention in the country’s counter-insurgency campaign,

"This can be seen by (Mrs.) Arroyo’s alleged persistent undermining of the peace negotiations with both the NDF and MILF in line with the US war policy," he said in an e-mailed statement to The STAR.

Rosal, who is based somewhere in southern Luzon, said Mrs. Arroyo has been feigning interest in holding peace talks with the NDF and the MILF because a "majority of the people" are in favor of a peaceful end to the communist and secessionist problem.

"The US government is pushing the Macapagal-Arroyo administration to drop the peace negotiations with the NDF," read the statement.

"The very purpose of the current deployment of 350 US Special Operations Forces in Sulu province on top of 400 more US troops in Zamboanga and 1,000 standby US Marine forces in US ships off the coast of Sulu is to ensure the US forces’ engagement in direct combat in the Philippines," the statement added.

Rosal said the US government is pressuring the Arroyo administration to insist on a "take it or leave it" surrender of communist rebels in the guise of a peace agreement.

"The bigger objective is the full deployment of American troops for direct combat operations against revolutionary forces in the Philippines," the statement said. – Benjie Villa and Artemio Dumlao