Military

DATE=06/02/03

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=PHILIPPINE REBELS

NUMBER=2-303885

BYLINE=RON CORBEN

DATELINE=BANGKOK

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Islamic rebels in the southern Philippines have begun a 10-day ceasefire. But, as Ron Corben reports, the government is calling on the Moro Islamic Liberation Front to renounce terrorism and turn in members who are suspected of being responsible for a series of deadly bombings.

TEXT: The unilateral ceasefire by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front begins two weeks after the Philippine government began a military campaign against the rebels.

As part of the 10-day ceasefire, the M-I-L-F calls for government troops to withdraw from guerrilla-controlled areas. The group also wants the government to cancel arrest warrants for several M-I-L-F leaders.

While the government initially welcomed the ceasefire, clashes last week angered President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who called the offer to halt the fighting an M-I-L-F ploy. The military says fighting with the rebels in the past few days resulted in at least 23 deaths.

Ignacio Bunye is President Arroyo's press secretary.

/// ACT IGNACIO BUNYE ///

The declaration of the temporary truce would not necessarily signal a sincere desire for peace. For all we know it may be a ploy to just allow them to reconsolidate their troops and resources, so we're watching the situation very closely.

/// ENDS ACT ///

Mr. Bunye says the M-I-L-F needs to renounce terrorism and surrender those suspected in recent bombings in Mindanao.

Since early this year, a series of bombings, mostly in the southern Philippines, has killed more than two hundred people. The bombings prompted the government to call off peace talks several weeks ago.

M-I-L-F spokesman Eid Kabalu says the ceasefire offer is genuine.

/// ACT 1 EID KABALU ///

It is really a response to the call by various sectors in Mindanao - the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, the non-government organizations, (the) peace advocates. They have been appealing to the M-I-L-F and the government to declare a ceasefire and possibly go back to the negotiating table.

/// ENDS ACT ///

Mr. Kabalu also denies that the M-I-L-F has links with the regional terrorist organization, Jemaah Islamiyah. That group has some ties with the al- Qaida network of Osama bin Laden.

The M-I-L-F has been fighting for almost three decades to create an Islamic nation in the southern regions of largely Roman Catholic Philippines. (Signed)

NEB/HK/RC/KPD