Government troops have began pulling out from a mountain complex in Central Mindanao, where separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels are actively operating. MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu said about a hundred soldiers had left the so-called Buliok complex near Maguindanao province ahead of scheduled peace talks next month in Kuala Lumpur. "Government soldiers have started moving out from Buliok complex. The pullout of troops is slow and gradual, but about a hundred soldiers have already left the area," Kabalu told Arab News.
The MILF has earlier demanded the pullout after troops occupied in 2003 a major rebel camp in the mountain complex that straddles Maguindanao and North Cotabato province. Thousands of soldiers were stationed in Buliok after security forces drove away the rebels in a fierce battle. "The pullout is a positive development ahead of the resumption of formal peace talks next month and we are happy about this," Kabalu said.
Lt. Col. Daniel Lucero, a spokesman of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, used another term for the pullout. "There is no total pullout of government forces in Buliok. The soldiers were only re-aligned to other areas," Lucero said, without further elaborating.
Aside from the pullout of security forces in the mountain complex, the rebels also demanded the dropping of criminal charges against MILF chief Murad Ebrahim and dozens more linked by the police and military to last year's twin deadly bombing in Davao City that left 37 people dead and 170 others wounded. Kabalu said the peace negotiations are expected to resume in August and would likely discuss the MILF's second demand and the terms of reference for the deployment of international cease-fire observers. "We expect these things to be discussed during the negotiations, and probably other matters that would hasten the peace process," he said.
He said the Libyan ambassador to Manila, Salem Adam, held talks with rebel leaders in the southern Philippines last week. "The discussions were mostly on the progress of the peace negotiations and the role that Libya would play in the peace process," Kabalu said without elaborating. Libya is an influential member of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and is actively supporting the peace talks.
It also played a key role in previous negotiations to free foreigners kidnapped by rebels in the southern province of Sulu, particularly during the Sipadan hostage crisis, where the Al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group snatched 21 mostly Asian and Western holiday-makers from the Sipadan island resort off Sabah, Malaysia in 2002. |