Philippine policeman killed, 11 hurt in clash with rebels after secret peace talks

MANILA, Philippines: Philippine police clashed with communist rebels Friday, leaving one officer dead and 11 others wounded, after mediator Norway announced the two sides met secretly in Oslo in a bid to revive peace talks.

The police director in southern Compostella Valley province, Chief Superintendent Andres Caro, said police were on combat patrol in Mabini township when they exchanged fire with about 60 New People's Army rebels.

One officer was killed in the battle and 11 others were taken to a local hospital with gunshot wounds, Caro said. One of those wounded was in serious condition, he said.

Caro said he ordered his men to check hospitals for any wounded guerrillas.

Following the clash, army troops in the area defused several land mines planted by the rebels, police said.

The violence came despite the latest efforts by Norway to initiate a resumption of talks between the Philippine government and the rebels. The talks broke off in 2004, after the rebels accused Manila of instigating their inclusion on U.S. and European Union terrorist lists.

Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister Raymond Johansen said in Oslo that three days of meetings ended Thursday and were kept informal and confidential at the request of the parties. He said both sides agreed to meet again later this year.

In a separate attack on eastern Samar island, police Chief Superintendent Abner Cabalquinto said rebels opened fire on a convoy carrying the Gamay town mayor on Thursday. An army corporal was killed but the mayor escaped unhurt, Cabalquinto said.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has ordered the military to crush the rebels by 2010, when her term ends. The military says the number of rebels has dropped from 7,000 several years ago to just over 5,000 this year.

The rebels have waged a rural-based insurrection, attacking police and military outposts and surviving by collecting so-called "revolutionary taxes" from companies in areas where they operate.

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