Manila  - Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said Monday the military's offensives against Muslim separatist rebels in the south, which have displaced more than 270,000 civilians, would help remove obstacles to peace talks with the guerrillas.

Arroyo stressed that her government has not declared an all-out war against the secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), military operations were only targeted against those commanders and members who launched a spate of deadly attacks this month.

Cotabato City, Philippines - At least 100 Muslim rebels were killed in three days of airstrikes and ground assaults by government forces in the southern Philippines, a regional army spokesman said Saturday.

Lieutenant Colonel Julieto Ando said the military offensive would continue against Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) guerrillas in seven towns in Maguindanao province, 
960 kilometres south of Manila.

Manila - Five people were killed when unidentified gunmen attacked a convoy of a town deputy mayor in the southern Philippines, officials said Saturday.

Vice Mayor Wilson Nadang was unhurt in the ambush which happened Friday in Santo Nino village near Tukuran, a town in the province Zamboanga del Sur, 810 kilometres south of Manila.

Nadang, who is deputy mayor of the nearby town Labangan, told a local radio station that five of his security escorts were killed in a gunbattle with the attackers.

Police said initial investigation showed the incident could have been a "misencounter" between Nadang's security escorts and government security forces manning a checkpoint.

Manila  - Fighting between Muslim separatist rebels and government troops in the southern Philippines escalated Friday as peace talks between the guerrillas and the government crumbled, a regional army spokesman said.

Sporadic clashes were reported in seven towns in Maguindanao province, 960 kilometres south of Manila, where 16 Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) guerrillas and one soldier have been killed in the past three days.

Manila - Two government soldiers were wounded Thursday in clashes with Muslim separatist rebels in the southern Philippines, where hostilities have killed 102 people and displaced nearly 150,000 residents since last week.

The fighting occurred in Damatulan village in Midsayap town, North Cotabato province, 930 kilometres south of Manila, one of five towns occupied by Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels last week.

Manila - The Philippine government Wednesday dumped a controversial land deal with Muslim secessionist rebels amid strong opposition even from close allies of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

Press Secretary Jesus Dureza said the government will renegotiate the ancestral domain agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), that would have included an additional 735 villages into the existing six-province Muslim autonomous region on strife-torn Mindanao island.