Peace talks with communists put on hold

Long-awaited talks in Norway this weekend between the Philippine government and Maoist rebels aimed at ending a deadly 40-year insurgency will not go ahead, both sides said Friday.

The setback came as authorities announced they had arrested a senior communist leader in charge of rebel operations in the northern Philippines, potentially fuelling tensions between the adversaries.

The meeting, due to start in Oslo today, was to be the first time in four years that the two sides had formally sat down in an effort to broker a deal to end the long-simmering conflict, which has claimed thousands of lives.

Both sides blamed each other for the diplomatic breakdown.

Talks would not go ahead because the National Democratic Front (NDF) “failed to respond” to Manila’s call to resolve outstanding issues ahead of the negotiations, a government spokesman told Agence France-Presse.

Spokesman Ben Cal said the NDF, which represents the Communist Party of the Philippines and its 5,200-member armed wing, had insisted Manila dismiss criminal charges against certain rebel leaders and release others from jail.

The government has already freed two jailed rebel leaders that the NDF had named as “consultants” to the peace talks, but refused to drop criminal charges against them and other rebel leaders who remain at large.

The government invited lawyers representing the NDF to informal talks in Manila this week to try to resolve some of the outstanding issues ahead of the Oslo negotiations, but Cal said they did not show up.

Reds blame Palace

But the NDF accused President Gloria Arroyo and her national security advisers of “preventing the resumption of the formal talks.”

NDF spokesman Fidel Agcaoili said Manila had warned there would be no talks unless the rebels put the issue of “disarmament, demobilization and reintegration” of the guerrillas on top of the agenda.

The Netherlands-based spokesman said in a statement the rebels wanted to discuss the granting of immunity from arrest for all negotiators and their consultants, followed by “social, economic and political reforms.”

Consenting to the government demands would lead to the “destruction and pacification of the armed revolutionary movement of the people,” Agcaoili added.

The NDF also did not say if the talks could start at a later date, or if they had been abandoned.

Rebel arrested

Meanwhile, police said they arrested Delfin Pimentel, a 25-year communist veteran in charge of guerrilla operations in the northern Philippines.

Pimentel, who was arrested along with his wife in a raid on Tuesday, will stand trial for seven murders of policemen, government agents and former rebels, a police statement said.

President Arroyo wants to bring a negotiated settlement to the 40-year-old rebellion before her term ends in the middle of next year.

But the rebels had previously suggested they were not interested in negotiating with an outgoing Arroyo administration, and that they would prefer to talk with a new president. –AFP