|
Saturday, December 31, 2005
International team to probe MILF 'violations'
By Al Jacinto
ZAMBOANGA CITY -- International ceasefire observers deployed in Mindanao said they will investigate the military's accusations that the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) is secretly recruiting new members and training rebels and has broke a fragile truce it signed with the government four years ago.
The MILF, the largest separatist rebel group in the country, is currently negotiating peace with Manila.
But southern Philippines military chief Lieutenant General Edilberto Adan accused the group of training rebels and recruiting as many as 4,000 new members since early this year.
Adan said despite a strong protest, the MILF continues to train and recruit in at least eight towns and provinces in the south.
But the MILF denied the accusations and said the military is scuttling the peace talks, which are expected to resume next month in Kuala Lumpur.
Malaysian Admiral Muhammad Som, a spokesman for the 64-member international truce monitoring team, said they would investigate the accusations.
"In fact, the government launched a protest about this issue. Both the IMT and the MILF are aware of this and attempts are being made to investigate and look into these allegations."
"Since these allegation covers a large area in Mindanao, the investigation will take a little more time, but we will address the issue systematically and professionally and bear in mind the importance of peace that we have achieved so far," Som said.
He said the peace talks, which began in 2001, have already achieved significant gains and urged government and rebel negotiators to sustain the peace process.
"The peace talks are going very well, although of course there is conflict going on, but what is important here is to keep the momentum of peace alive and we must not miss this opportunity in Mindanao. So far, the ceasefire agreement between the government and rebels is holding very well," Som said.
He said his group is also monitoring socio and economic developments and rehabilitation of conflict-affected areas in the strife-torn but mineral-rich region.
The IMT is composed of representatives from Malaysia, Brunei, and Libya and deployed last year in the southern Philippines to monitor the truce between Manila and the MILF. It has put up headquarters in the cities of Zamboanga, Cotabato, General Santos, Iligan and Davao, said Som.
Brunei last month praised the peace talks and expressed optimism that a deal would soon end the decades-old problems in Mindanao.
Brunei's Royal Armed Forces commander Major General Dato' Paduka Seri Haji Awang Halbi bin Haji Moh'd Yusof arrived in November in Maguindanao province and met with government and rebel peace negotiators. He was the highest official in Brunei to have visited Maguindanao since the peace talks began.
A group of senior Brunei security officials, led by Colonel Pengiran Haji Rosli bin Pengiran Haji Chuchu, commander of the Royal Brunei Land Force, also visited Maguindanao in October.
The province is a known MILF stronghold in the south, where Filipino troops are battling Abu Sayyaf militants tied with the al-Qaeda terror network and the regional Jemaah Islamiya group.
Malaysia, which is brokering the talks, earlier expressed optimism the Arroyo government and the MILF would be able to strike a peace agreement next year.
"We hope that in 2006, the peace process in Mindanao island can be realized," said Malaysia's Defense Forces chief, Admiral Tan Sri Mohamed Anwar Nor.
The MILF, which split with the larger Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in 1978, is fighting for a separate Muslim homeland in the south.
The MNLF signed a peace agreement with Manila in September 1996, but many of its members who were disgruntled with the accord joined either the MILF or the Abu Sayyaf.
Many Muslim countries, including Saudi Arabia and Indonesia, and the influential Organization of Islamic Conference and the United States are supporting the peace talks.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said that 80 percent of the peace talks have been completed and that permanent peace in Mindanao is within reach. (Sun.Star Zamboanga/Sunnex)
(December 31, 2005 issue)
Write letter to the editor. Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board. Click here. |
|
|
|
[return to top]
[home]
|
|
City takeover of Cebu port? 'Illegal'