MANILA — Rebels in the southern Philippines staged a series of attacks this week that left at least nine civilians dead, in what appeared to be an effort to pressure the government to restart negotiations that have been stalled for months, analysts said Friday.

On Tuesday, members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front — the main group that has been fighting for Muslim self-rule in the predominantly Roman Catholic region of Mindanao since the 1970s — attacked villages in Sultan Kudarat township, killing nine civilians and wounding more, the military said. The next day, Christmas Eve, it was reported that the rebels staged another attack, in the town of Alamada.

“The attacks came while the people were setting off firecrackers,” said Ernesto Concepcion, mayor of Alamada, ABS-CBN television said. “The attackers timed their attacks during the revelry.”

The military said the rebels attacked other areas on Thursday, firing rocket-propelled grenades at power lines in Sultan Kudarat and looting houses.

“They ransacked the houses of civilians and extorted money from them,” said Lt. Col. Ernesto Torres Jr., an army spokesman. “They even stole the guns of retired soldiers living in the area.”

The rebels denied that they had tried to attack civilians. Eid Kabalu, a spokesman for the rebels, instead blamed the military for stepping up its offensives in the past several days.

Peace negotiations have been stalled since August, when the government nullified a landmark agreement that would have expanded a Muslim autonomous region. Julkipli Wadi, an analyst and professor at the Institute of Islamic Studies at the University of the Philippines, said “the recent attacks may be viewed as a strategic offensive” by the insurgents to press the government to restart the peace talks.

However, Kristian Herbolzheimer, an adviser on peace processes with the Initiatives for International Dialogue, a Mindanao-based group that monitors the negotiations, said more information was needed before any conclusions could be drawn.

“The fragility of any peace process is that it can easily be affected by episodes of violence that can either be a product of rogue elements who want to put pressure on the government or by spoilers who want it to derail completely,” he said.

In recent months, fighting between the separatists and the government has killed dozens from each side and displaced more than half a million Filipinos from their homes. Tens of thousands are in refugee camps in several provinces.

Many Filipinos, particularly Christian politicians and local officials, opposed the agreement with the insurgents that would have created an enlarged Muslim autonomous region. The issue went to the Supreme Court, which ruled that the pact was unconstitutional.

Since the agreement was rescinded in August, the government has been trying to repair the situation, and last week it announced a new negotiating panel in the hope that talks with the rebels could be restarted.

But rebel leaders say any negotiations will have to resume where they left off: with the territorial agreement the Supreme Court found unconstitutional.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/27/world/asia/27phils.html?ref=world&pagewanted=print

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