Lift terror tag, we talk' --NDF (tags)
Communist rebels are willing to resume peace talks, but only if the government initiates the dropping of the terror tag on the revolutionary movement, exiled Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) chairman Jose Ma. Sison said yesterday. Sison said they would only return to the negotiating table when the government moves to have the CPP and the New People’s Army (NPA) stricken off the lists of foreign terrorist organizations drawn up by the United States and the European Union. Sison said the government must also show it is sincere about stopping the military from carrying out extrajudicial killings, while also indemnifying victims of human rights violations.
War in Mindanao :Palace, AFP reject OIC call for ceasefire in Sulu (tags)
Manila-- Malacañang is giving full support to the military offensive against renegade Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) forces in Sulu, which entered its fourth day of fierce fighting yesterday. While the government acknowledges the appeal of the 47-nation Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) to disengage forces, Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said there must be an assurance against further attacks from the renegade forces. Nearly 8,500 families ( 40,000 people)have fled the fighting and thousands crammed into schools and gymnasiums in downtown Jolo, relying on food rations from disaster agencies. The mass evacuations are a bitter development for conflict-scarred residents, who had hoped Jolo was becoming a more stable place after a long-running military campaign to rid the island of scores of Islamic militants.
Some elements’ in RP security forces behind killings – US report (tags)
"Some elements" of Philippine security forces are "apparently" responsible for unexplained killings, disappearances, arbitrary arrest and illegal detentions, according to the US State Department. In its latest report, "Supporting Human Rights and Democracy: The US Record 2006," the State Department said members of security services committed acts of physical and psychological abuse on suspects and detainees, and even instances of torture. The report, which was released and submitted to the US Congress last week, said corruption remained a problem in all sectors of the criminal justice system, including police, prosecutorial, and judicial organs.
CIA, FBI, Aussie agents operating in south — AFP (tags)
Several American and Australian intelligence agents are in Mindanao to monitor terrorist activities, military sources here claimed yesterday. "Mindanao is crawling with CIA (Central Intelligence Agency), FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) and even Australian federal agents," a source told The STAR.
Michael Ray pleads guilty (tags)
— A former protégé of Sen. Panfilo Lacson pleaded guilty on Monday to unauthorized possession of US government defense documents. Former police senior superintendent Michael Ray Aquino’s guilty plea spared himself a possible life sentence and also spared the US government a messy trial that could highlight weaknesses on how it guards its secrets.