Note: Photos included.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080219/pl_afp/philippinesusmuslimpeace
“US envoy meets Philippines Muslim rebel chief”
by Jason Gutierrez
Tue Feb 19, 9:24 AM ET
ARTICLE SNIPPET: “CAMP DARAPANAN, Philippines (AFP) - US ambassador Kristie Kenney on Tuesday met with the head of the Philippines’ main Muslim rebel group in an attempt to re-start stalled peace talks, the two sides said.
Accompanied by US security personnel and aid officials, the envoy visited the main rebel base of Camp Darapanan and met with Muhammad Murad, chief of the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
She said it was a “private visit” and would not comment further.
Murad told AFP in an exclusive interview after the meeting that Kenney had questioned him about the status of the peace talks, which he said would resume next month.
Washington has pledged tens of millions of dollars in aid to the troubled Mindanao region of the southern Philippines once Manila strikes a peace treaty with the 12,000-member MILF.”
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080219/pl_nm/philippines_rebels_usa_dc
“U.S. assures Muslim rebels on Philippine exercises”
By Manny Mogato
Tue Feb 19, 6:19 AM ET
ARTICLE SNIPPET: “MANILA (Reuters) - The U.S. ambassador to the Philippines met the leader of the country’s largest Muslim rebel group on Tuesday in an effort to defuse tensions over U.S. soldiers entering Muslim areas in the south.
Earlier this week, thousands of people protested against the U.S. military’s plans to hold humanitarian missions in areas controlled by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) as part of annual training exercises with Philippine troops.
“The U.S. ambassador assured us the U.S. soldiers would not be involved in any combat activities,” Mohaqher Iqbal, head of the MILF peace panel with the government, told Reuters.
Kristie Kenney was the first U.S. ambassador to enter MILF territory when she met al haj Ibrahim Murad for about an hour in Camp Darapanan, outside Cotabato City on the southern island of Mindanao.
Muslim rebels in camouflage uniforms and armed with assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers guarded the bungalow where Kenney met with Murad.”