Over 50 killed in southern Philippines fighting

MANILA, Aug 10 (Reuters) Philippine troops shelled Muslim rebel positions and raked them with helicopter fire overnight on the southern island of Jolo after a day of intense fighting in which at least 58 people, including 26 troops, were killed.

The fighting which broke out yesterday morning is the heaviest in the volatile Philippine south for almost three years, but the military said it suspended operations at daybreak today following a request from the provincial governor.

''We got a call from Governor Abdusakur Tan to suspend operations because of a Muslim holiday,'' said Major-General Ruben Rafael, the local military commander. ''We have agreed.'' The military said the rebels were from the Abu Sayyaf, which is linked to al Qaeda, but the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), a Muslim rebel group which signed a peace deal with the government in 1996, said its cadres were involved.

Local officials said Jolo had been tense because the military had begun collecting unlicenced firearms from villagers as a part of a wider drive in the Mindanao region. The Tausug tribe that dominates the local population on Jolo prizes weapons.

Discontent has also been simmering among MNLF cadres because the government is close to signing a deal with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the country's largest Muslim secessionist group. The MNLF says the government should first fulfill obligations due to it from the 1996 agreement.

A senior MNLF leader said he was worried the fighting could delay three-party talks between the rebel group, the Philippine government and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) that brokered the 1996 peace deal.

The talks are to be held in Indonesia later this month on implementing the 1996 deal and giving more funds to an autonomous Muslim region in the south of the country.

''We're getting sceptical about everything,'' Parouk Hussin, head of the foreign relations panel of the MNLF, told Reuters. ''We're beginning to doubt the sincerity of the government in carrying out its commitments under the 1996 peace agreement.'' The islands of the southern Philippines, especially Jolo and Basilan, are hotbeds of extremism. They are also home to bandit and pirate gangs that prey on shipping in the South China Sea.

About 13,000 Philippine troops are on the islands to contain about 2,000 rebels. About 100 US special forces are also on Jolo to help train the Philippine military but they are forbidden from fighting under Philippine law.

''It's all in the hands of the military whether the peace pact would still hold,'' Hussin said, adding the violence could escalate into another full-blown conflict.

The MNLF fought the government for decades until the 1996 agreement. In late 2004, MNLF members fought with troops on Jolo demanding their leader Nur Misuari be freed from jail and scores were killed on both sides.

At least 60,000 people Jolo fled from their homes.

The army has said about 100 rebels from the Abu Sayyaf and a rogue faction of the MNLF were believed to be involved in the latest fighting.

Due to family ties on Jolo and Basilan, there are close links between the Abu Sayyaf, the MNLF and the MILF and sometimes an overlap in membership.

The fighting started yesterday when gunmen ambushed a group of soldiers when they were on their way to a market in Maimbung town to buy food, the military's Rafael said. Ten soldiers were killed and one was wounded.

Reinforcements were rushed to the area and troops began pursuing the rebels, officials said.

In a gunbattles later in the day, at least 16 soldiers were killed, said Major Eugene Batara, a spokesman in the city of Zamboanga, the headquarters of the Philippines' Western Mindanao military command.

At least 31 rebels were killed and 25 wounded, he said. One boy was killed in crossfire.

''It was an intense battle and we were directly under fire,'' said Private Abdulhari Bittong, one of the wounded soldiers at an army hospital in Zamboanga City.

''We could see our enemies about 20 metres (yards) away. They were very furious because we got one of their top leaders.'' REUTERS AK SSC1342