MANILA, Dec 4: Communist guerillas waging a decades-old Maoist rebellion in the Philippines rejected a government offer to sign a peace treaty next year under a general ceasefire, the government here said on Thursday.

The offer was made in Oslo last weekend with hosts Norway acting as third-party brokers, but “the informal talks hit a snag on the issue of ceasefire,” a government statement said.

The talks were attended by Nieves Confesor, the chief government negotiator, as well as Netherlands-based senior leaders of the 40-year-old insurgency that has claimed thousands of lives and condemned large areas of the Southeast Asian archipelago to poverty.

Manila said the talks began well with both parties agreeing to “time-bound” formal negotiations next year amid a ceasefire.

“We agreed on the necessity of finishing the talks within 2009, before the babble of the 2010 (presidential) elections begins,” it added.

The government said the Oslo talks ended in disagreement with the rebels offering “short sporadic ceasefires of five days to 10 days” during the duration of each round of negotiations, while Manila wanted “a ceasefire throughout the duration of the talks.” Manila then sought another round of informal consultations in early 2009 to discuss the ceasefire, but the rebels said they would only attend formal peace negotiations.

The rebels had said in a statement on Wednesday, when they announced the breakdown of the talks, that a general ceasefire would be tantamount to surrender.

Police said they have arrested a wanted senior communist guerilla leader who operated in the northern Philippines.

Edgar Molina, who carried a one-million-peso ($20,000) bounty on his head, was arrested near the mountain town of Lacub earlier this week, a police statement said.

Molina is the alleged commander of a New People’s Army (NPA) guerilla front in the Ilocos region, according to a police report. Two alleged rebel aides, including a woman, were detained with him.

The rebels said on Thursday that they were holding a military officer and a policeman captive. Army Special Forces Lieutenant Vicente Cammayo and police officer Eduardo Tumol would be put on “trial” in rebel courts but will remain captive even if found not guilty due to the absence of a ceasefire, communist party official Fidel Agcaoili said in a statement to news agencies.—AFP