Philippine government gives major Muslim separatist group 24hr ultimatum

Manila: The Philippine government on Thursday issued a 24-hour ultimatum for the Muslim separatist group to vacate several southern villages and return about 6,500 displaced Christians to their homes, or face attack at a sensitive time for the country's peace process.

Top military and police officials have denied that the deadline was a declaration of war against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. Appealing to the rebels to respect an ongoing truce by withdrawing their forces in dozens of farming villages in the predominantly Christian province of North Cotabato.

The government and the MILF rebels were set to sign a preliminary accord expanding an autonomous Muslim region in exchange for ending the bloody insurgency but was blocked on Monday by the Supreme Court acting a petition by Christian politicians.

"We are giving those individuals that forcibly occupied these areas 24 hours to vacate," Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno said. "Otherwise they shall be forcibly
separated from the area. We cannot allow these things to happen."

The rebels with an estimated 11,000 armed fighters have been battling for self-rule in the predominantly Roman Catholic nation's volatile south for four decades, with
thousands dying in the conflict.