Non-Subscriber Extract
Manila's grasp on peace slips
- Article Tools
| 04 April 2002 |
By Anthony Davis, JDW Correspondent
Manila
Sabre-rattling by the Armed Forces of the Philippines, coupled with fresh evidence of international extremist groups operating in the south of the country, are threatening to set back or even derail peace talks between Manila and its foremost insurgent threat, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
Heightened tension across the restive south comes against the backdrop of the joint US-Philippine training exercise 'Balikatan 02-1' and stepped up operations against the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) on Basilan Island.
Notwithstanding the essentially criminal nature of the ASG, the exercises have been widely billed as the 'second front' in the US-led 'war on terror'.
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