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Monday, May 30, 2005
Muslim rebels consult followers on peace talks
CAMP DARAPANAN -- Muslim separatists in Mindanao began consulting tens of thousands of followers Sunday ahead of a crucial round of peace talks with the government aimed at ending three decades of conflict.
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front's three-day assembly in Sultan Kudarat town on Mindanao island comes as hopes run high between the government and the guerrillas for a permanent end to the conflict-halted two years ago by a ceasefire.
At a meeting in Malaysia last month, the two sides made progress on resolving Muslims' territorial rights claims--the first tangible result in years of negotiations.
Rebel spokesman Mohagher Iqbal said the two sides plan to further discuss the long-standing aspiration of minority Muslims for self-rule in Mindanao during talks set to start next month. Key MILF demands included control over land and resources in the impoverished region.
The next round will "take up the most substantive aspect of the peace talks," Iqbal said.
On Sunday, tens of thousands of Muslims, guarded by guerrillas brandishing rifles, descended on a clearing flanked by cornfields and coconut plantations where rebel commanders opened the discussion on the peace talks. Women were asked to wear veils and were separated from men by marshals in keeping with the rebels' conservative tradition.
Iqbal said the guerrillas will ask those gathered at the conference for their opinion on a "new formula" to end the conflict. He didn't elaborate.
"We want peace. Hopefully the violence will stop, and there will be understanding between the government and the MILF," said Mambai Upam, a 42-year-old housewife at the meeting with her 7-year-old son.
Another housewife, Hairia Daud Managiri, who is married to an MILF guerrilla, said, "We want independence."
Any breakdown in talks on ancestral domains could force the rebels to return to the battlefield, Muhammad Ameen, secretary to MILF chairman Al Haj Murad, said in a statement earlier this month.
The MILF has been fighting since the 1970s to establish a separate Islamic state in Mindanao. Peace talks have been complicated by accusations that some of the group's local commanders have ties with Muslim militants from al-Qaida-linked groups Jemaah Islamiyah and the Abu Sayyaf.
MILF leaders have repeatedly denied the claims. (AP)
(May 30, 2005 issue)
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