Peace talks between the Philippines' main armed communist group and the government are unlikely to take place this week, officials said on Monday, after the rebels insisted on the release of detained colleagues as a pre-condition. The New People's Army, the country's main communist armed group, was scheduled to resume talks, stalled since 2004, in Oslo to seek an end to a conflict that has killed more than 40,000 people. But the rebels said Manila had failed to honour a promise made in June to free 14 top leaders and give legal immunity to nearly 100 rebels some of whom will act as consultants in the negotiations. “The government is in zero compliance and in clear violation of the ... agreement,” said Fidel Agcaoili, spokesman of the rebels's political arm, the National Democratic Front (NDF). The government has freed four top cadres of the Maoist-led NPA, but communist leaders want the others to be released also. Manila said it committed to release only four leaders, not 14. “It looks like we cannot do it on Friday because of lack of time,” Avelino Razon, the government's peace adviser, told Reuters regarding the restart of talks. “But we're still hopeful we can push through with it at a delayed schedule.”
