CPP-NPA stays on EU terror list

From ABS-CBN (Jul 26): CPP-NPA stays on EU terror list

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing, the New People's Army (NPA), remain on the European Union's list of terrorist organizations.

The EU's Official Journal -- the bloc's record of decisions and their implementation -- show the CPP-NPA on the latest list of 11 persons and 25 groups deemed to be involved in terrorist activity.

The CPP-NPA have been fighting successive governments for 44 years in a rebellion that has claimed at least 30,000 lives.

President Benigno Aquino hoped to end the rebellion before his six-year term expires in 2016, but the government said in April that peace talks had collapsed due to rebel demands such as for the release of captured comrades.

In recent months, the communist rebels have launched more assaults, often targeting unarmed soldiers, police, and civilians.

Being on the EU terror list means the bloc imposes sanctions imposed on the communist group, its members and officials.

The sanctions include prohibition of sale or transfer of weapons, freezing of funds and other financial assets or resources, ban on entry or transit through the territories of EU member-states.

The EU also formally listed the armed wing of the powerful Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah as a terrorist entity Friday.

The listing will most likely result in an assets freeze but analysts have warned it may be virtually impossible in practice to distinguish between Hezbollah's military and political wings.

Others on the list include Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that rules Gaza, Colombian rebel group FARC, and Peru's Shining Path.

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/07/26/13/cpp-npa-stays-eu-terror-list