BBC News, 15 February 2011
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A senior communist has been captured shortly before the start of the first formal peace talks in five years.
The Philippine government, the Norwegian mediator and communists representative are ready for talks |
Allan Jimenez, a member of the central committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) was charged with murder and rebellion.
Negotiators from the CPP and the Manila government are in Oslo, Norway, for talks on economic and political reforms to help end the insurgency.
The CPP has been fighting for more than 40 years.
A ceasefire took effect as planned soon after the arrest of Mr Jimenez, which follows that of rebel leader Tirso Alcantara ("Ka Bart").
He was caught in early January while visiting his lover.
Several senior rebels have been granted immunity for the duration of the talks, and police said they would release Mr Jimenez if his name was on that list.
The talks will mark the first between communist rebels and the government in several years |
The last peace talks, under former President Gloria Arroyo, failed when the CPP and its armed wing the New People's Army (NPA) were placed on international lists of terrorist organisations.
The BBC's Philippines Kate McGeown in Manila says those hoping for more success this time point to the relatively untainted presidency of Benigno Aquino.
The exiled party leadership of Jose Maria Sison and Luis Jalandoni, based in the Netherlands, is ageing and thought by some analysts to want a deal before they die.
But the fate of political prisoners needs to be resolved. There have been hundreds of killings and disappearances of people accused of sympathising with the rebels.
Several confidence-building measures have taken place, alongside the arrests in the run-up to talks.
"We are looking forward to the negotiations and expect positive results," Mr Jalandoni told The Associated Press after arriving in Oslo on Monday.
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