Rebels to stop using child soldiers

MANILA, (AP):Philippine communist rebels have agreed to create a plan to stop using child soldiers, a United Nations (UN) official disclosed yesterday.

Communist leaders living in exile in the Netherlands have agreed to hold talks on a plan similar to one forged earlier by Philippine Muslim rebels to exclude child soldiers, said Radhika Coomaraswamy, a UN special representative for children and armed conflict.

The communist rebels, who have been waging a 42-year insurgency, have been accused of using child soldiers, but say they ban recruitment of anyone younger than 18 to their armed wing, the New People's Army.

Coomaraswamy said the rebels have not categorically said they have children in their ranks but have acknowledged it is a problem by agreeing to work on a plan to exclude them.