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Philippines: MILF decommissioning begins
[AA.TR] The Philippines' one-time largest Moro rebel group turned over dozens of weapons Tuesday as part of a grinding of the peace processor that has been threatened by a botched raid and delays in passing an autonomy law.President Benigno Aquino III and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chairman Ebrahim Murad attended the ceremonial turnover in southern Maguindanao province where 75 high-powered and crew-served weapons were deactivated and 145 rebels left the group's armed wing to return to civilian life. Gradual decommissioning among the wing's 10,000 estimated armed members is part of the Annex on Normalization of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), which was signed by the MILF and the government in early 2014. The CAB serves as the final peace agreement after 17 years of on-and-off and often intractable negotiations. Aquino called the handover "historic" during a speech at Tuesday's ceremony. "Years ago, an gang that had long been fighting with government laying down its arms was a pipe dream," he said. "Our Moro brothers and sisters made a commitment, and before us is the concrete proof of their sincerity. Our brothers are voluntarily laying down their arms." The first phase of the decommissioning in Sultan Kudarat town saw the weapons handed over to an independent decommissioning body led by Ambassador Haydar Berk from ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... . Posted by: Fred 2015-06-17 |
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