As a general of an Islamic rebel group fighting the Philippine army, one might expect Ustadz Shariff Julabbi to be on the run. However, I found him living unmolested in his modest wooden house in Zamboanga, a mainly Christian city at the southern tip of war-torn Mindanao Island.
His safety is guaranteed by the government because he represents the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in peace talks with Manila. But this might not last much longer, as the situation in the tropical southern Philippines deteriorates.
The talks, running parallel with a largely ignored ceasefire since 1997, stalled last month when government troops began a major attack on MILF positions, and in 14 days of warfare since then, over 60 Philippine soldiers and scores of rebel fighters have been killed.
Most people in Zamboanga believe there will be an intensification of the fighting, which has been overshadowed by the kidnapping of foreign tourists held on nearby Jolo Island by the smaller and more extreme rebel group, Abu Sayyaf.
"It's the beginning of a wider war," said Mr Julabbi (52) as we sipped Royal Tru orange squash in his home on a busy street. "Negotiations with the government are useless. They have double standards. They talk while harassing our positions. Our main concern is that they must stop their attacks." There seems little prospect of that.
Yesterday, Gen Angelo Reyes, chief of staff of the Philippines armed forces, said there should be a sustained military campaign against the MILF, which has built up an army of some 15,000 fighters since rejecting a peace agreement signed in 1996 by the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) that ensured partial autonomy for four southern provinces after 30 years of conflict.
"We can't allow a situation where you have an armed force that is openly declaring its intention to pursue independence," said Gen Reyes.
This opinion is apparently shared by many of the Christians who outnumber Muslims on the resource-rich Mindanao Island by 15 million to four million. In a fairly typical outburst a hotel security officer told me: "They should kill all Muslims; our motto is `Never trust a Muslim'."
Atrocities against Christians carried out mainly by the Abu Sayyaf group, including the murder of a priest last week on Basilan Island, "have made the feelings of Christians very aggressive, they are really disgusted," said the Rev Angel Calvo, a Spanish Claretian priest involved in inter-religious dialogue in Zamboanga.
In his office decorated with peace slogans, Father Calvo said that dialogue was continuing with figures like Mr Julabbi - whom he describes as a friend - but has met high-level opposition.
The Christian mayor of Zamboanga, Ms Maria Clara Lobregad, boycotted a peace week organised last November by the Catholic and Muslim groups, PAZ and SALAM, because, said Father Calvo: "She felt it would just give the Muslims an opportunity to advance their cause."
That cause, according to Mr Julabbi, who is MILF chairman for western Mindanao, is the establishment of an independent Islamic state in Mindanao to ensure a political, economic, stable and lasting solution for the Muslim people (known as Moro from Spanish times). He advocates an East Timor-type referendum for Muslim provinces.
The MILF is strongly opposed to kidnappings such as those carried out by Abu Sayyaf.
"Islamic law places a strict prohibition on kidnapping for ransom," said the MILF general, in whose home hangs a certificate from a course at a Mennonite university on "Religion, Source of Conflict".
Some of the most serious fighting between MILF and troops has been over a stretch of a major highway in western Mindanao long controlled by the MILF which the army is trying to take back, alleging that drivers are being forced to pay extortionate tolls.
A Vietnam-type network of concrete trenches linking the highway to a rebel camp was uncovered this week. About twothirds of the 130,000-strong Philippine army is now engaged in Mindanao.
Philippine soldiers patrolling in the wrong area may inadvertently have prevented the release yesterday of an ailing German woman from among 21 hostages held by Abu Sayyaf rebels on Jolo island, officials said. Hopes had been high that the kidnappers would free Mrs Renate Wallert as a humanitarian gesture.