T

he Indonesian government is callling on all concerned parties to exercise restraint and ensure the safety of civilians in the southern Philippines, where rebels are still holding more than 100 civilians hostage.

'€œWe express our concerns over the situation in the southern Philippines,'€ Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said, responding to the worsening situation in Zamboanga, where fighting is continuing between government troops and rebels.

Twenty-two people, including 15 rebels, have been killed so far in clashes between the rebels and the government troops that have surrounded them.

'€œAs neighbor and facilitator of the Final Peace Agreement between the Philippines'€™ government and the Moro National Liberation Front [MNLF] in 1996, Indonesia is calling for restraint and urges all parties to ensure the safety of civilians,'€ Marty said in the written statement sent to The Jakarta Post on Friday.

He underlined that a peace solution was the only option that should be reached by both parties, based on the peace agreement. The 1996 peace agreement provides a foundation for resolving problems and seeking fair, comprehensive and sustainable solutions.

'€œIndonesia is always ready to respond to requests from parties involved in efforts aimed at fostering peace,'€ Marty added.

Associated Press reported that Philippine officials negotiated Friday with rebels who were holding more than 100 people hostage, as President Benigno Aquino III warned that his government won'€™t hesitate to use force to end the five-day standoff.

Aquino visited troops and some of the 24,000 people displaced by the violence in southern Zamboanga city, where about 200 fighters from a Muslim rebel faction stormed into several coastal communities earlier this week and took residents hostage.

Fighting broke out again in Santa Catalina village on Friday, and ABS-CBN TV reported that voices presumably of hostages were heard shouting '€œcease fire, cease fire!'€ One government soldier was reportedly wounded.

A mortar fired by the rebels landed on a street in front of the government hospital in Santa Catalina. An AP photographer near the scene saw at least six people wounded, including four Red Cross personnel and two soldiers. The wounded were rushed away on stretchers and an ambulance.

Four fires raged in different parts of Zamboanga, a major southern port city. Officials said the rebels could be setting them as diversions.

Military spokesman Lt. Col. Ramon Zagala said that lines of communication with the rebels remain open but they'€™re still refusing to surrender.

'€We'€™re negotiating,'€ Zagala said, refusing to elaborate.

The crisis began Monday when MNLF rebels, who have been overshadowed by a rival group in talks with the government for a new minority Muslim autonomy deal, clashed with troops who had foiled their plan to march through Zamboanga city and hoist their flag at city hall.

The rebel leader, Nur Misuari, signed a peace deal in 1996, but the guerrillas did not lay down their arms and later accused the government of reneging on a promise to develop long-neglected Muslim regions in the predominantly Roman Catholic nation. The government says Misuari kept on stalling and making new demands.

'€We will investigate all the actuations of Misuari,'€ Aquino told reporters, adding that his justice secretary was evaluating evidence against Misuari.

Misuari has not been seen in public since the standoff began.

'€There are lines they should not cross,'€ Aquino said of the rebels. If those lines are crossed, the government will be obligated to use '€the force of the state,'€ he said. '€” AP