MANILA (Reuters) – The Philippines’ main Muslim separatist group has promised to hasten efforts to remove child soldiers from its ranks, the United Nations said on Friday, and it hopes to reach a similar deal with Maoist rebels.
Radhika Coomaraswamy, U.N. special representative for children and armed conflict, has met government officials and separatist and Maoist leaders to try to secure commitments to spare children from the two long-running insurgencies.
Coomaraswamy said the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) had agreed to stop recruiting child soldiers and send home those already fighting, while the Maoists’ National Democratic Front (NDF) had agreed to talks on the issue…
