WORLD IN BRIEF : PHILIPPINES : Communist Rebels Spurn Amnesty Bid

Philippine Communist guerrillas have rejected a government peace offer and vowed to intensify their 23-year insurgency. The rebels, in a statement published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, said President Fidel V. Ramos’ offer to legalize the outlawed Communist Party and grant them amnesty was unacceptable because it required them to disarm. The statement was signed by Communist Party chief Amado Liwanag, which the military says is the nom de guerre of party founder Jose Maria Sison, who lives in exile in the Netherlands. Ramos, who took office a month ago, has pledged to seek an end to the insurgency waged by the New People’s Army, the Communist Party’s armed wing.