Jesus Dureza, adviser to the Philippine President to the talks, affirmed thatthe Government was optimistic with “successful expectations” about theresumption of the negotiations.
Meanwhile, head of the NPA delegation Fidel Agcaoili said that his group hadraised complaints, including alleged Government breaches of the 1998 agreementon respecting human rights and another on safety for the NPA’s advisers.
The fight between the Government troops and the NPA has claimed about 30,000lives since 1960. The number of the NPA’s gunmen has been reduced to 4,000 from26,000 at peak.-VNA