Asia-Pacific News
Philippines declares Christmas ceasefire with communist rebels
Dec 13, 2007, 11:06 GMT
Manila - The Philippine government declared Thursday a three-week Christmas ceasefire with communist rebels as a goodwill gesture in hopes of resuming stalled peace talks.
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said the suspension of military operations will take effect at midnight on December 16 and end at midnight January 6, 2008.
Ermita said the unilateral truce was a confidence-building measure on the part of the government.
Last year, the government only declared a four-day holiday ceasefire with the communist rebels.
Peace talks between the Philippine government and communist rebels have been suspended since August 2004.
Efforts to resume the negotiations have failed with the rebels demanding that Manila first take steps to remove them from foreign terrorist blacklists.
Communist rebels have been fighting the Philippine government since the late 1960s, making the movement one of the longest-running leftist insurgencies in Asia.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-AgenturCOMMENT
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