The largest Muslim rebel group in the Philippines began a unilateral 10-day cease-fire on Monday under persistent army harassment and confronted by a government that doubts the peace offer is genuine. Manila and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) have tried many times to end more than three decades of violence that has killed at least 120,000 people in the overwhelmingly Christian country and put a big dent in investor confidence. The military, which said earlier it killed 19 rebels on the southern island of Mindanao on Saturday and took over a camp from retreating guerrillas, reported shooting two MILF fighters while pursuing a 70-strong group on Monday morning. “The armed forces will not fire upon MILF groups that raise the white flag, come out in the open and peaceably return to the fold,” President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said in a statement. Full Story
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