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I Am Afraid I Have To Say It Is Too Hot Too Here

Fighting between Islamic rebels and Philippine troops intensified Sunday, dimming hopes of renewed peace talks with the southern separatists, government and military officials

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More than 100 Muslim fighters have been killed in four days of clashes with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on Mindanao island, said military spokesman Colonel Julieto Ando.

About 90,000 people have been displaced by the upsurge in fighting, according to local and foreign relief agencies operating in the region where government troops have battled insurgents for 40 years.

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'Fighting intensified overnight with battles raging near the towns of Datu Saudi Ampatuan and Datu Piang, all in Maguindanao province, ' said Ando, who blamed recent rebels attacks for the deteriorating situation.

'We have done our best to embrace peace, but the MILF started the hostilities by pillaging villages and murdering innocent civilians in Mindanao, ' Ando said.

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'Now we are implementing the full force of the law and we will arrest those responsible for the traitorous attacks against civilians.'

The National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) said Sunday that more than 240,000 people have been displaced since the fighting began two weeks ago.

The NDCC put the number killed in two weeks at 50, conflicting with military figures.

Glenn Rabonza, NDCC executive officer, said nearly 100 evacuation centres have been set up across the affected areas in Mindanao.

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I Am Feeling More Hot

MILF chief peace negotiator Mohagher Iqbal warned of a return to full-scale hostilities.

'This is a grim scenario and I don't even want to think about it, but if the peace talks collapse then there will be war again in Mindanao, ' he told AFP.

Iqbal blamed hawkish factions of President Gloria Arroyo's government and local Christian politicians opposed to a Muslim homeland.

'The voice of reason is dwarfed by the voice of hatred and prejudice, ' he said. 'The peace talks are slowly breaking apart and if this continues, may God help us all.'

Talks to end the insurgency have been going on for 11 years, with a ceasefire officially in force since 2003.

The peace accord would have granted Muslims their own separate state across more than 700 villages in Mindanao, but the Supreme Court on August 4 halted the so-called Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain.

The peace plan had sparked a series of protests from mostly Christian politicians and residents opposed to the inclusion of their areas into the so-called Bangsamoro (Muslim) Juridical Entity.

Several rebel MILF commanders have since ignored repeated calls by their leaders to stand down and launched attacks on civilians in towns and villages in many parts of Muslim Mindanao.

Some politicians have urged villagers to arm and defend themselves from rebel attacks. Armed militias have also been deployed to guard their communities against further atrocities.

On Saturday MILF chairman Ebrahim Murad called on Malaysia to help resume the peace talks to end weeks of brutal fighting in Mindanao.

Deputy Presidential Spokesman Anthony Golez said the government would continue to pursue peace negotiations with the rebels even if the government enjoys a military advantage over them.

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Hot, hotter and now bombastic, (this is not a poem)

The Philippine government on Sunday (24 Aug) rejected a call by Muslim guerrillas for a halt in a massive air and ground assault, and instead intensified the four-day attack, capturing a rebel training camp in a southern province, officials said.

Moro Islamic Liberation Front Chairman Al Haj Murad urged the government in a rare news conference Saturday to stop the offensive, warning it could imperil a years long peace process and escalate violence in the country's troubled south.

About 6,000 troops and police commando forces, backed by artillery and bomber aircraft, have attacked guerrilla positions to capture a rebel commander who occupied and looted Christian farming communities in North Cotabato province. Two other commanders are also being hunted who led a rampage last week in which 37 people were shot or hacked to death in Lanao del Norte province.

'There will be no let up in government offensives, ' Press Secretary Jesus Dureza said.

He said government forces would 'enforce the law' if Murad does not turn over the three commanders for justice. Murad has refused to do so.

After four days of air and artillery strikes and attacks by army rangers, rebel resistance has softened, allowing troops to capture a guerrilla training camp in Maguindanao's Mamasapano township, said Army Col. Marlou Salazar, who was overseeing the offensive.

Troops were checking the camp, which has obstacle courses, assembly areas and small buildings for combat training, for possible booby traps and land mines, he said.

'They're scampering and leaving only token forces to delay our advance, ' Salazar told The Associated Press by telephone.

At least 27 guerrillas have been killed and 21 others wounded in three Maguindanao townships where Salazar's army brigade was pressing its assault against the forces of rebel commander Ameril Umbra Kato. Military and police were continuing a manhunt in nearby Lanao del Norte province for commanders Abdullah Macapaar, also known as Bravo, and Aleem Sulaiman Pangalian.

The National Disaster Coordinating Council reported that at least 40 civilians have been killed and 240,000 displaced by the rebel attacks and the fighting.

'The number keeps growing, ' Social Welfare Secretary Esperanza Cabral told the AP. 'There is fighting that erupts in new places almost every day so more and more are being displaced. So we are hoping that there can be a peaceful resolution very quickly.'

Cabral said the World Food Program has increased its emergency rice supplies for refugees from 400 tons last week to 900 tons.

Murad said government troops were attacking the main rebel forces and not only pursuing the three commanders.

The rebels, who have been fighting for Muslim self-rule in the predominantly Roman Catholic nation's south for decades, said they regretted a recent upsurge in violence and that the commanders responsible had acted on their own. Murad said peace talks should resume, but refused to turn over the commanders to face the criminal justice system.

'We cannot subject our members to the laws of the government, ' Murad said. 'We are a revolutionary force.'

Just weeks ago, a peace deal to end the decades-long insurgency had seemed within reach after government and rebel negotiators initialed an agreement on an expanded Muslim autonomous region.

But Christian politicians in areas that would be affected challenged the deal in the Supreme Court, triggering the attacks by frustrated rebels.

By JIM GOMEZ/ AP)

Associated Press writer Oliver Teves contributed to this report.
MySinchew 2008.08.25

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Mindanao: A Portrait and the Perspective

self is the agent of peace, the covenant of harmony
welcome the elements of respect, understanding
and hope where by the birth of the culture of peace
will always reign in our hearts

Mindanao the back door, the land of promise and
the Jews past dream of exodus, lives now the fear
of survival, the struggle that hamper its progress
and development

the Mindanao inhabitant, lives fear at the border in
everyone's hearts, fight survival face to face with a
turmoil of winning our dignity, never the fighting
spirit we possess in our soul have leave and capture
the sting and the pangs of death, for we are the
people who have always seen the future

the Mindanaon accept what fate brings, it's the faith
that shields us to joint and unite what ever adversities
may come, the strength and the pendulum of fight
leads every force to find new style and solution of
winning our struggle, for we never lost hope but
instead with open mind to pursue favorable ways to
attain of what is love

day to days we dream of, what is the picture of
tomorrow, and year after years the citizen have attain
the covenant of peace amongst people who believed
that there is still future await in the end of the horizon

a raise Mindanao, the final day has yet to come the
dawning light, had just welcome the morning bless,
and the star above wonder the universe exclaim
that, what ever the heart believes the soul can achieve

live and stand Mindanao forwards to your call, for we
are now to close to reach what is the day of the
future, the moment of truth for our generation to come
and the yesterdays aspiration, for we can't fly to the
moon neither can defy death without a cause

Mindanao the land of promise.....

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Syria Admits Ethnic Cleansing In Darayya

days of government bombing against the civilian
town of Darayya preceded the Syrian armies assault
on Saturday capitalizing on a civilian bombardment

Syrian state TV confirmed these ruthless attacks
stating military targets an official Darayya policy
city systematically 'cleansed of terrorist remnants'

Syrian government troops responsible for the 'massacre'
had 'summarily executed' many victims caught in the town
of Darayya after executing their 'house-to-house' raids

unconfirmed reports described 200 bodies discovered
in houses and basement shelters 'many of the victims
had gunshot wounds to the head and chest and were killed

during house-to-house raids by government troops'
most victims had been killed at close range some had died
from sniper fire unverified video footage on the internet...

shows rows of recovered bodies side by side in
the Abu Auleiman al-Darani mosque the Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said altogether

183 people died across Syria on Saturday...

'the type of mass killing reportedly carried out in Darayya,
with dozens of bodies being discovered following
government raids, has increased in recent months' this is

not a new pattern according to Human Rights Watch but
is now happening in more areas in greater numbers?
United Nations observers claim both sides had carried out

massacres the Syrian army being held responsible for a
far greater number of deaths sadly UN monitors have been
confined to their hotels since June due to rising violence...

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The Libyans

Libyans demanding Gadhafi's ouster rallied to show their honest solidarity
With the people of the besieged capital marching without any coercive command
Under a hail of bullets, while the government moved to tighten its grip on Tripoli.
Gadhafi's troops attacked an air base that had fallen into the rebellion's hand.

Foreign mercenaries and Libyan militiamen loyal to Gadhafi had fought
To roll back the uprising against his rule, attacking two nearby great cities,
But rebels made new gains, seizing another military air base and Gadhafi have thought
That Osama bin Laden must be blamed for these upheavals and adversities.

The government had detained some activists to stop the demostrators to go on,
Seif al-Islam Gadhafi had warned the protesters of risk to ignite a civil war,
The speech was followed by a crackdown of Benghazi security forces, who fired on
Manifestants and marchers because they couldn't accept that situation any more.

The protesters throwing firebombs and stones had gotten on bulldozers and tried
To storm a presidential compound in order to achieve their fighting goal,
The attempt was repulsed by the armed forces in the compound which fired
On attackers and solders killing them, but at least the rebels have taken control.

The rebels have taken control of nearly the entire eastern half of the country,

As well as the cities close to Gadhafi's stronghold in the Tripoli capital.
Protesters have broken the clampdown pro-Gadhafi militiamen imposed on Tripoli
And the gunmen roaming the street, shooting people on sight, have been very brutal.

The U.N. Security Council met to consider some possible sanctions against Gadhafi's
Regime, including an arms embargo and another important trade sanction.
France considered that the violence of pro-Gadhafi forces must be punished
And Libya's 11-member Arab League mission also announced its resignation.

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The more facts you tell, the more you sell. An advertisement's chance for success invariably increases as the number of pertinent merchandise facts included in the advertisement increases.

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