Philippine police kill suspected Muslim militant

MANILA, Feb 1 (Reuters) Philippine security forces today killed a suspected Muslim militant and arrested another in a dawn raid east of Manila, police said.

Asher Dolina, leader of the police team that conducted the raid, said the rebels were members of a renegade faction of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and were believed to be plotting bomb attacks in Manila.

Local radio reported that five other militants escaped.

The MILF, the Philippines' largest Muslim separatist group, has a shaky ceasefire with the government and the two sides are trying to revive peace talks stalled since May last year due to differences over a proposed deal on territory in the south.

MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu told a local radio station that the man killed in the raid was not a member of their organisation.

''We are focused on the peace talks. We are about to resume negotiations so why would we create trouble.'' The Philippines is a largely Catholic country but has a sizable Muslim minority on its impoverished southern islands.

Violence between the military and four Islamic separatist groups has killed more than 120,000 people since the early 1970s.

Last week, fighting broke out between MILF and government troops on the southern island of Mindanao and and at least six people were killed.

Reuters SBA VP0810