Philippine Left Announces Ties with Islamic Rebels

Reuters, 29 March 1999

MANILA, March 29 (Reuters)—Philippine Marxist rebels have formed an alliance with Moslem separatists to fight the Manila government, the chairman of the country's Communist Party said on Monday.

This is an alliance for armed struggle and...it can effectively deliver lethal blows against the enemy, party chairman Armando Liwanag said in a statement.

Liwanag, believed to be a nom-de-guerre, issued the statement on the 30th anniversary of the founding of the New People's Army (NPA), which is fighting for a Marxist state.

The NPA is the military arm of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), a communist-led umbrella group of leftist organisations.

Among the recent alliances that we can publicly announce and consider as highly significant is the formal alliance between the NDFP and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Liwanag said in a statement sent to Reuters.

Liwanag did not give details and MILF spokesmen could not be reached for comment.

The MILF is fighting for an Islamic state in the southern Philippines while the NPA operates in the north and south of the country.

The military estimates MILF armed strength at 11,000 and that of the NPA at 8,000.

Manila is holding peace negotiations with the MILF and has held separate talks with the communists but suspended them in February after the NPA seized an army general and three other officers in separate operations.