MANILA, July 8 (Reuters) - The Philippine government and the main communist rebel group agreed to resume peace talks stalled since 2005, hoping to sit down next month in Norway, officials from both sides said on Wednesday. The government also agreed to re-issue safe conduct passes to leaders and members of the rebels' peace panel, allowing them to travel without fear of arrest, said Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita. "The prospects for a return to the peace negotiating table are very good," Ermita told reporters, after negotiators from the two sides had an informal meeting in Oslo last month, facilitated by Norwegian officials. Ermita said a key obstacle to the talks was lifted when the rebels said they would no longer insist on the removal of the organisation and its leaders from terrorist blacklists as a condition before resuming talks. The Maoist rebels had protested the decision of the United States, Australia and some Western European states to blacklist the country's communist party and its military arm, New People's Army (NPA) as terrorist organisations in 2005. "The government is not insisting on a ceasefire during the conduct of talks," Ermita added. Luis Jalandoni, the rebels' chief negotiator, confirmed in a statement the two sides were preparing to resume talks "sometime in August 2009". Talks to end 40 years of a Maoist-led insurgency that has killed more than 40,000 people and scared potential investments in the poor but resource-rich state stalled in 2005 due to rising rights abuses in the country. The military has come under fire for rising cases of disappearances and political killings, which the U.N. rights agency said was part of a drive against communist rebels. The military has denied the charge, instead blaming the deaths on an internal purge within the NPA. Since January, rebels have stepped up attacks on plantations, mines and mobile phone companies' cellular sites in what officials said were extortion attempts aimed at raising funds for their operations and to sabotage the government's efforts to lure investment. (Reporting by Manny Mogato; Editing by Rosemarie Francisco)
A woman delivers a baby with the help of municipal health workers at a rural health facility centre in Bohol province in central Philippines July 7, 2009. As World Population Day ...
