Philippines scraps talks with rebels following deadly attack

MANILA, Philippines -- The Philippine government withdrew Tuesday from informal talks with Muslim rebels after a guerrilla attack killed 22 soldiers and civilians.

Government negotiators were scheduled to meet with Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels Friday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said the meeting will wait "until we can establish more auspicious circumstances to move the peace process forward."

The government cannot tolerate "terrorism in the guise of a fight for freedom," Arroyo said.

Malaysia's envoy to Manila, Mohamed Taufik, said the postponement was disheartening.

On Sunday, guerrillas seized the town hall and a hospital and torched a public market in Siocon, a predominantly Christian town on the southern island of Mindanao. Government troops later regained control of the town, but the guerrillas took dozens of hostages as they fled.

Lt. Gen. Rodolfo Garcia, the military's vice chief of staff, said Tuesday that updated field reports showed the attack killed 12 soldiers and police, 10 civilians and six rebels.

Hostages returned

Military spokesman Lt. Col. Daniel Lucero said the last of the hostages were freed and recovered unharmed Tuesday.

MILF has been waging an insurrection in the Philippines' impoverished and volatile south for about three decades.

They have held sporadic peace talks with the government. But fighting has increased since February, when thousands of troops captured a stronghold on Mindanao.

Rebel spokesman Eid Kabalu said the attack was directed at an army battalion headquarters as part of the guerrilla group's "defense posture" against a continuing military offensive.

He described the civilian deaths as "collateral damages."

The Philippines also is fighting Muslim rebels known as the Abu Sayyaf on its southern islands. U.S. Ambassador Francis Ricciardone and senior Philippine officials on Tuesday visited an army base, where Ricciardone said a joint training exercise between the United States and the Philippines should serve as warning to the Abu Sayyaf.

About 1,200 U.S. soldiers and 2,500 Filipino soldiers are participating in the annual exercise.

"I hope you got some good pictures and I hope it's broadcast and the people down south who are meaning to cause harm to Filipino citizens will get a good look at this and see what's coming at them," Ricciardone said.