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Saturday, September 25, 2004
Muslim rebels to push for self-rule (12:10 p.m.)
SULTAN KUDARAT -- Muslim separatist rebels plan to press Philippine government for self-governance and recognition of their "ancestral domain" to end their insurgency, a top leader told AFP.
Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) deputy chief Ghazali Jaafar, speaking in his heavily fortified home on the southern island of Mindanao, said Manila should acknowledge that the Bangsamoro (Muslim people) historically ruled the south of this mostly Roman Catholic country.
Negotiations with the government of President Arroyo have so far led to a ceasefire and agreements to cooperate on flushing out foreign militants from MILF strongholds. But when the talks resume in October, they are likely to include political and economic issues.
"We are not negotiating for surrender," said Jaafar, sitting under the insurgents' flag and closely guarded by two guerrillas wielding M16 assault rifles.
"But we have been fighting for three decades and it is time we find a solution."
Joining the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) is "unacceptable" because it has been a failure and does not reflect "the will of the Bangsamoro," he said.
The ARMM was created when the former Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), from which the MILF split in 1978, signed a peace pact with government in 1996.
It now consists of four mainly Muslim provinces and a city on Mindanao, which remains poor despite the millions of dollars poured into it.
Many roads remain unpaved, and while a few shopping centers have been built, they are owned by settlers from elsewhere.
Unlicensed guns and private militias of rival warlords add to the problem.
"The so-called ARMM is not a real autonomy. It did not have power and answers still to the Manila government. It also did not contribute to the improvement in the lives of Muslims," Jaafar said.
He said the MILF would avoid going the way of the MNLF, some of whose members joined the security forces after the pact. Many later reverted to rebellion.
MNLF leader Nur Misuari himself later led a failed rebellion when he was being removed as ARMM governor and is now languishing in a jail near Manila.
Jaafar said the government should not "limit the parameters of the discussions" and should consider several options.
"Mindanao was ruled by our ancestors and should be recognized as such and returned to us," Jaafar said.
"We want self-governance, a system by which we Muslims can solve the problems of our own people. And not just an agreement favoring a few Muslim leaders," he said.
"This will depend on the Arroyo government. But the leadership of the MILF is willing to sign an agreement if there is a favorable solution to the problem of the Bangsamoro who remain colonized," he said.
While the rebels welcomed Manila's dropping of criminal charges against their leaders, they will not lay down their arms until a "just and acceptable solution is found," he said.
A short man in his 50s, Jaafar, along with Muslim leaders such as the late Salamat Hashim and Misuari initiated the rebellion in the early 1970s.
Misuari, who headed the MNLF, and Hashim would later split, giving birth to the MILF.
When Arroyo was swept to power in a military-backed popular revolt in 2001, she invited the MILF to the peace table. In 2002, a ceasefire was signed, leading to formal talks.
But the talks have been marred by deadly clashes, and by allegations by the military that the MILF has been sheltering militants of the Jemaah Islamiyah regional terror group -- a claim repeatedly denied by the rebels.
Hashim died in 2003 of natural causes, leading to a power vacuum that slowed the peace process. In his place now is Murad Ebrahim, formerly head of the MILF's 12,000-strong armed wing.
The talks are expected to resume next month, hosted by Malaysia, which in the 1970s had sheltered the insurgents who frequently crossed into its Sabah state. (AFP) |
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