Government: Reds reneging on agreement to return to talks

The government accused communist rebels yesterday of turning their back on an agreement to return to peace talks.

The government’s peace negotiating panel said a rebel statement on Thursday reneged on what had been agreed upon at informal talks brokered by the Norwegian government on Aug. 29 to 30.

The communist statement "reflects the total opposite of what transpired between the two panels," said a government statement.

"It is a sudden and mystifying turnaround from the agreements."

The National Democratic Front (NDF), the political wing of the insurgent Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) on Thursday denied that both sides had agreed to resume formal peace negotiations in Oslo next month and that a joint ceasefire would take effect.

The insurgents also called for prisoners to be released and for their organization to be removed from the lists of "foreign terrorist organizations" by Philippine allies the United States and European Union.

The government said the NDF statement had "disturbed the environment conducive to fruitful dialogue" and that it was now considering a formal response.

Peace talks have been stalled for a year over the NDF’s demand to no longer be classified as a foreign terrorist group. The rebels had also said they would no longer talk to President Arroyo’s government, saying it was on the way out.

In response, the government threatened to withdraw the immunity-from-arrest guarantees extended to the 97-member NDF peace panel.

However, after the last-ditch, informal talks in August, the government said it had agreed to reinstate the immunity and resume the formal negotiations. — AFP