31.   Late voting was underway Tuesday in parts of Aceh province, where separatist rebels operate.

32.   Muslims are a minority in the mostly Roman Catholic Philippines but are a majority in the islands where the rebels operate.

33.   Pro-independence rebels also operate in the provinces of Aceh and Irian Jaya as well as the former Portuguese colony of East Timor.

34.   Rebels have been operating in the zone, trying to break it away from Yugoslav control, though a shaky cease-fire is in place.

35.   Rebels have operated in the zone with virtual impunity.

36.   State government officials said many rebels operated from camps in neighboring Bhutan from where they sneaked into the state, carried out attacks and then retreated to their bases.

37.   That has enabled the rebels to operate in the zone with virtual impunity.

38.   The attack was the first in Apac district, which brings to three the number of districts where the rebels have been operating in recent months.

39.   That has enabled the ethnic Albanian rebels to operate in the zone with virtual impunity.

40.   The committee was formed to coordinate moves designed to re-establish government control over areas where ethnic Albanian rebels operated.