Troops storm rebel leaders' houses

Government troops yesterday stormed the houses of two rebel leaders wanted in connection with bombings in the southern Philippines - but found only caretakers, officials said.

About 100 police and soldiers simultaneously raided the homes of Moro Islamic Liberation Front vice chairman for political affairs Ghazali Jaafar and vice chairman for military affairs Al Haj Murad in Maguindanao province's Sultan Kudarat town, 930 kilometres southeast of Manila.

The troops had received intelligence reports that the rebel leaders were in their houses, 200 metres apart, and were trying to serve arrest warrants, said an official of the army's 6th Infantry Division, who refused to be identified.

Meanwhile, the expected resumption of peace negotiations between the government and the MILF hit another snag yesterday after the MILF said it will not be compelled to include Hashim Selamat, the separatist group's chairman, in the rebel peace negotiation panel as President Gloria Arroyo has demanded.

"The MILF will not be compelled to give in to government demands on who will be in our negotiation panel," Eid Kabalu, MILF spokesman, told Gulf News in an interview.

On Saturday, Renato de Villa, Arroyo's adviser on strategic concerns, told reporters that the reason the President wanted Selamat to serve as chief MILF negotiator was to ensure that all agreements forged will be binding.

But Kabalu said past minor agreements between the MILF and the government had been binding even without Selamat on the peace panel.

The rebel panel is currently headed by Al Haj Murad Ibrahim, the MILF's vice-chairperson for military affairs.

Kabalu said the President's "irrelevant demands are meant to justify the government's unwillingness to respond to an MILF-declared unilateral ceasefire" and continue the offensive against the rebels.

The MILF had ordered its forces to defer from offensive actions for 10 days from June 2 in an effort to draw a similar response from the government.

On June 12, the rebels extended their ceasefire by 10 more days despite an unfavourable response by the government to the truce.

Instead of reciprocating the MILF's suspension of offensive operations, Arroyo ordered government forces to conduct punitive strikes on the rebels whom she accused of being behind a wave of bombings of civilian targets on Mindanao.

"The government cannot compel us to put in our negotiating panel whoever they want, in as much as the MILF cannot demand the same from them," said Kabalu.