NEWS - Philippines warns secession

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Subject: NEWS - Philippines warns secession may convulse S E Asia

NOTE: The following news article describes only the point-of-view of a
dominating military and/or government.  The disintegration of Asia would
not lead to chaos unless provoked.  If the loosing groups would fight
the change rather than allow it to happen.  Burma is a good example. 
The military would not allow the seperate peoples govern themselves and
thus Burma is in economic and political chaos.


Philippines warns secession may convulse S E Asia

  
MANILA, Nov 24 (Reuters) - The Philippines, grappling with insurrection
problems in Moslem-dominated Mindanao, warned on Wednesday that
secession in any part of Southeast Asia would spread like a virus and
destabilise the region. 

Presidential spokesman Jerry Barican said the Philippines believed new
Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid would try to persuade Filipino
Moslem separatist leader Salamat Hashim to forego violence when they
meet early next week on Mindanao island in the southern Philippines. 

At home, Wahid faces growing demands for independence from the
rebellious Indonesian province of Aceh. Analysts have warned Indonesia
could disintegrate if Aceh breaks away, with serious security
repercussions for the ASEAN region. 

``We are quite sure that President Wahid, like all other leaders of
ASEAN countries, would endeavour to protect the territorial integrity
not only of their respective countries but also their neighbours',''
Barican said in a statement. 

``Any successful secession will spread like 'flu in the region and would
lead to greater political and security destablisation in Southeast
Asia,'' Barican added. 

Wahid's plan to talk with rebels in the southern Philippines is aimed at
resolving the situation, Philippine Defence Secretary Orlando Mercado
said on Monday. 

Wahid, who will attend a summit of the Association of South East Asian
Nations (ASEAN) in Manila on Sunday, planned to meet Hashim later
somewhere in Mindanao on his way home, officials have said. 

Moslem-majority Indonesia previously helped the Philippines, a Catholic
nation, negotiate with the main rebel group, Moro National Liberation
Front, which has dropped demands for independence in favour of autonomy. 

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. 

Hashim, head of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), leads his own
separatist rebellion in Mindanao, 800 km (500 miles) south of Manila. 

The MILF is a breakaway faction of the main rebel group MNLF, which
signed a peace deal with Manila in 1996 after talks mediated by Islamic
countries led by Indonesia. 

Barican said a meeting with Hashim would allow Wahid ``to better
understand'' the Mindanao problem. 

``The objective would be to convince Mr Salamat to follow the path of
peace,'' Barican added. 

There has been sporadic fighting between government forces and the MILF
in a village of Lanao del Sur province in Mindanao since last week, but
the clashes ended on Tuesday after the rebels withdrew, the military
said. 

An army spokesman estimated more than 40 rebels were killed in the
fighting, based on reports from villagers, and said the military lost
three soldiers. 

MILF vice chairman for military affairs, Al Haj Murad, laughed off the
army report, saying only two of his men died. 

``If you listen to the army, you would think that all of the MILF had
been decimated,'' Murad said by phone from a rebel base in Mindanao. 

04:28 11-24-99