| Submit your comments on this article |
| Southeast Asia |
| Philippines hoping for MILF peace deal by September |
| 2006-02-09 |
| The Philippine government could sign a peace deal with Muslim rebels as early as September, Manila's chief negotiator Silvestre Afable said on Wednesday after returning from the latest round of talks in Malaysia. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has been fighting for an independent state for Muslims on the southern island of Mindanao, although a truce has been holding since July 2003. Negotiators from the two sides said on Tuesday they had agreed to a preliminary deal on land claims, the key to ending a nearly four-decade revolt that has cost more than 120,000 lives. Agreement on an ancestral domain for Muslims in the south of the mainly Roman Catholic nation could be reached as soon as March, allowing the first formal talks in three years to begin, a joint statement said. "We're working towards a peace deal, hopefully by September," Afable told reporters in Manila after a two-day meeting at the Malaysian seaside resort of Port Dickson. Afable said he could not rule out the possibility of hardline elements breaking away from the rebel group but added there was "a consistent assurance from the MILF that they are negotiating as a consolidated group". A peace deal with the 12,000-strong MILF would speed development of impoverished but mineral-rich Mindanao and improve the overall investment and security climate in the Philippines, the closest ally of the United States in Southeast Asia. "The light at the end of the tunnel is not only flickering, but is getting nearer and nearer," Mohaqher Iqbal, head of the MILF delegation, said on Tuesday. Afable said his confidence was driven by stability on the ground, wide support from the international community and the sincerity of the rebels "who share the aspiration of our government to end this conflict". His only concern was "the activities of militant groups in Mindanao who continue to try to undermine any agreement". Afable did not elaborate but security analysts have warned of efforts to scuttle the peace process by Abu Sayyaf, a small but lethal local group, and the regional network Jemaah Islamiah, which is believed to be al Qaeda's link in Southeast Asia. Manila and the MILF agreed in Malaysia to start an advocacy campaign to explain the concept of a Muslim homeland to Islamic, Christian and tribal communities on Mindanao, Afable said. The idea of an ancestral domain has been opposed by some landowners, many of them Christian, as well as Muslim clans who fear they will lose their political clout and business interests. Besides agreeing to determine the scope of the homeland, the negotiators settled on steps to address the grievances of local Muslims, their right to use and develop their land, and economic cooperation measures, officials said. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #3 Afable said he could not rule out the possibility of hardline elements breaking away from the rebel group but added there was Sounds like the comments made when the MNLF signed a peace treaty, giving birth th the MILF. So whats next, AMLF (Another Morro Lib Front)? I know whatever happens it won't be peace. |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2006-02-09 09:51 |
| #2 "the activities of militant groups in Mindanao who continue to try to undermine any agreement" you mean the MILF's clandestine comrades : JI |
| Posted by: bk 2006-02-09 09:43 |
| #1 They can have my roadmap. |
| Posted by: gromgoru 2006-02-09 07:15 |