Terror tag on Reds to stay

Despite impending peace talks, the government said yesterday it would not lobby foreign governments to remove the Philippine communist rebel movement from their lists of terrorist groups.

Foreign Secretary Delia Albert stressed that other governments listed the communist movement as a "foreign terrorist organization" on their own and that this should not affect the peace talks with the Philippine government scheduled in Norway next month.

She said it would be up to the CPP-NPA to show, by their actions, that the terrorist tag should be lifted. "It would also be by the actions of the CPP-NPA, actions that point the way towards meaningful peace, that would convince the international community to lift the designation."

The United States and European Union have placed the local communist guerrillas on their lists of terrorist organizations, hampering the rebels’ ability to raise funds abroad.

This came despite a demand by the CPP that it should be removed from the terrorist lists of other nations if the peace talks with Manila are to proceed.