[Via Communist Internet... http://www.egroups.com/group/Communist-Internet ] . . ----- Original Message ----- From: Magnus Bernhardsen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, June 24, 2001 9:36 PM Subject: [red_activism] Philippines: army warns about NPA http://www.asiaint.com/default.asp#aib2 Philippines warns about communist insurgency Development: On Friday, after three days of talks in the Libyan capital Tripoli, the Philippines government and the separatist rebels of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) signed a four-page document and determined to implement a general cessation of hostilities agreed back in 1997, but at the same time a new warning about the communist rebellion was issued by the armed forces. Assessment: An agreement was reached in Tripoli because representatives of the MILF, the main rebel group fighting for a Muslim homeland in the southern Philippines, watered down their demands for self-determination and accepted a formulation that referred to "aspirations for freedom". The agreement follows on from a suspension of military operations instituted by the government in February. The rebellion by the 16,000-strong Muslim separatist group is only one of a number of security crises facing the Manila government. The extremist Abu Sayyaf group continues its campaign of kidnapping for ransom, the success of which has enabled it to re-arm and to boost its membership to around 1,000 (see 12 June Daily Briefing for details). But the most-serious security threat still comes from the communist New People's Army (NPA). The NPA's membership is estimated by Filipino security sources to be just under 13,000, and the armed forces have asked President Arroyo to agree to the conscription of an additional 10,000 Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Units, in addition to the 10,000 trained last year, to help deal with the threat. Before the elections of May 2001 the NPA increased violent activity, targeting legislative, gubernatorial, and senatorial candidates, and levying "permit-to-campaign" fees as a form of protectionism. Two high-profile killings, of a gubernatorial candidate in Batangas and of Representative Marcial Punzalan Jr. in Quezon, led to the government announcing a new military offensive against the NPA when the elections were over. [The Conflict Watch section of the AsiaInt Monitoring Centre includes full background details and regularly updated analysis on the security situation in the Philippines. You may subscribe to the AsiaInt Monitoring Centre as a stand-alone service or as part of our comprehensive Asia Intelligence Service.] To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
