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Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Communist rebels urge fighters to step up attacks (4:45 p.m.)
MANILA -- Communist guerrillas, marking the 37th anniversary of Asia's longest running Maoist rebellion, urged their fighters Tuesday to step up attacks to hasten the downfall of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
"Let us accelerate the momentum of our tactical offensives," the Central Committee of the underground Communist Party of the Philippines said in a message saluting 37 years of fighting.
"We must fight only battles that we can win," the message said. "We must conduct ambushes, raids and arrest operations in which we have the upper hand by concentrating a superior force and taking advantage of the element of surprise."
Military spokesman Tristan Kison said the armed forces declared the highest state of alert on the eve of the rebel anniversary, adding, "Our troops know what to do."
The rebels "have organized in almost all parts of the country and we remain vigilant in all parts of the country because we cannot foresee where they would stage destabilization or the use of force," he said.
The military estimates the New People's Army rebels, the armed wing of the Communist Party, had more than 8,000 fighters last year, and the rebels claim to have a presence in nearly 70 of the Philippines' 79 provinces.
The guerrillas suspended Norwegian-brokered peace talks with the Philippine government two years ago, mainly to protest Manila's refusal to ask the United States and the European Union to remove them from terrorist blacklists.
The government has long accused the rebels of extortion and economic sabotage, and last month, Arroyo accused the rebels of teaming up with right-wing elements in the military in a coup plot she said would have destroyed democracy in the Philippines had it succeeded.
The rebels have denied any formal links with dissident officers, but offered them a sanctuary in guerrilla areas.
The communist guerrillas also lambasted the United States for supporting Arroyo and maintaining a military presence in the Philippines.
"The Arroyo regime has maliciously adopted the US slogan of `war on terror' as a license to oppress the people, especially the toiling masses of workers and peasants and the national minorities," they said.
The New People's Army was formed on March 29, 1969, by remnants of the old Huk guerrillas who fought against Japanese occupation in World War II and postwar Philippine governments. (AP)
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