Philippine Rebels Declare Cease-Fire

The main Muslim group fighting for independence in the southern Philippines declared a unilateral 48-hour cease-fire beginning today as intelligence sources said the government was prepared to make concessions to win the freedom of 21 hostages held by a different rebel faction.

Fighting between government soldiers and the larger independence group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, or MILF, tapered off Friday after a series of bombings and firefights Wednesday and early Thursday reportedly killed more than 50 people and, according to government officials, uprooted 100,000 others from their homes on the island of Mindanao.

Government sources indicated that the military was willing to observe the cease-fire that appeared to be taking effect early today, in the hope of restarting peace talks.

The hostages, most of them foreigners, were kidnapped April 23 from a diving resort in Malaysia and taken by boat to the nearby Philippine island of Jolo. The kidnappers, members of an Islamic organization known as Abu Sayyaf whose immediate motivation appears to be more monetary than political, said Friday that they would let doctors visit the hostages and were anxious to hold talks with the government.

Philippine President Joseph Estrada has followed a long-standing policy of not negotiating with kidnappers or terrorists. But he is under international pressure to resolve the crisis peacefully and is sending emissaries to Jolo. The hostages include citizens from Malaysia, France, Finland, Germany, South Africa and Lebanon.

About 2,000 government troops have ringed the area where the captives are believed to be held but have refrained from attacking for fear of risking the hostages’ lives.

Estrada has said his paramount concern is the hostages’ safety. Two of the captives were reported to have been slain early this week during a clash between rebels and troops, but negotiators for the two sides reported Friday that all 21 were alive.

On the nearby island of Basilan, soldiers are pursuing a separate group of Abu Sayyaf rebels holding about 10 Filipino schoolchildren, the remaining hostages from among 50 children and teachers kidnapped March 20. The rebels reportedly executed four of the hostages, including a priest, on Wednesday when they stumbled upon a military patrol and a firefight ensued. The soldiers rescued at least a dozen captives.

Muslim separatist movements and terrorism in the name of Islam have long troubled the southern Philippines. Mindanao, the second largest of the Philippine islands, is home to 5 million Muslims, the largest concentration in this predominantly Roman Catholic nation.

There appears to be no direct connection between the Abu Sayyaf kidnappings and the MILF-led violence that spread Wednesday through General Santos, Cotabato and other Mindanao cities. The MILF has condemned the kidnappings, as have most Muslim leaders throughout the Philippines.

The Abu Sayyaf group on Jolo island says it would free the foreign hostages for $2.4-million ransom. The rebels on Basilan want the U.S. government to free Ramzi Ahmed Yousef, mastermind of the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center in New York, in return for releasing the children.

Government sources said the Estrada administration was leery of the MILF’s cease-fire declaration because the group has used similar tactics in the past when the military seemed to be getting the upper hand. Although some advisors are urging a cautious approach, Estrada is also under pressure from other military commanders to step up operations against the MILF.

The MILF broke off peace talks last month, and some hawks here believe that that negates the government’s obligation to let the MILF operate camps in Mindanao that the Philippine army has agreed not to enter. The army dismantled several camps earlier this year when the MILF escalated the long-simmering conflict, but the organization’s largest camp--Abu Bakr--has remained off limits to the military.

The latest hostilities were inflamed last week when troops attacked hundreds of Muslim guerrillas who were blocking a road near the camp.

Rodolfo Biazon, former military chief of staff and current chairman of the Philippine Senate’s Security and Defense Committee, said Estrada had responded favorably to his recommendation that the national security council meet immediately to decide what steps the government should take.

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Two Sets of Hostages’

Two groups of Abu Sayyaf rebels are holding hostages in the region--on Jolo and Basilan islands. Abu Sayyaf is the smaller of the separatist Muslim groups seeking an independent Islamic nation in the southern Philippines.