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Thursday, February 09, 2006
Moro rebels near peace pact with government
By Al Jacinto
DAVAO CITY -- Government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) peace negotiators ended Wednesday a round of fresh negotiations in Malaysia with encouraging results that could finally put an end to more than three decades of fighting in Mindanao.
"Peace negotiators have wrapped up all previous issues and concerns on the Muslim ancestral domain and put everything into one compact agreement which will be signed probably by next month and that will finally put an end into the decades old problems of the Bangsamoro people," said rebel spokesman Eid Kabalu.
He added that they were now near realizing peace in Mindanao.
Despite encouraging talk updates, government militias and rebel forces clashed sporadically on Tuesday in the villages of Tuka and Kaya-Kaya in the town of Datu Abdullah Sangki in Maguindanao province. There were no reports of casualties.
Last week, fighting also erupted in Maguindanao's Datu Unsay town, killing more than a dozen people.
Kabalu said the MILF and the government ceasefire committees were working closely to stop the skirmishes.
"This is an isolated incident and will not affect the peace talks, and we are working with the government to put a stop to the fighting," he said.
Secretary Jesus Dureza, presidential adviser on the peace process, released a joint statement from Malaysia, saying government and rebel negotiators agreed to conduct advocacy drives in the Philippines on issues relating to the ancestral domain to broaden public understanding and draw support to the peace process.
In September, government and rebel peace negotiators signed several agreements centered on the ancestral domain -- its concept, territories and resources, and how the MILF shall govern these places.
Ancestral domain refers to the MILF demand for territory that will constitute a Muslim homeland. It is the single most important issue in the peace negotiations before the rebel group can reach a political settlement.
Last month, the MILF bared a comprehensive plan to help the government -- once a peace agreement is signed -- in the rehabilitation and development of war-torn areas in Mindanao.
It said it would strengthen the agricultural industry and work closely with tourism operators in an effort to attract more local and foreign visitors, and boost trade activities by promoting the mineral-rich region.
The Bangsamoro Development Agency (BDA), put up by the MILF and the government in 2002, will oversee the whole implementation of the ambitious plan.
It was the first time the MILF has spoken about its plan that eventually would benefit Mindanao, the country's second largest island previously under the Sultanate of Sulu and Borneo. And these are only some of what the rebels will undertake as soon as the MILF and government peace negotiators sign a formal agreement.
Manila opened peace talks in 2001 with the MILF, which is fighting the government for the establishment of a strict Islamic state in Mindanao.
Mohagher Iqbal, MILF chief peace negotiator, previously said his group is hoping to sign a comprehensive agreement with the government and finally put an end to the hostilities in Mindanao.
"The prospect of peace has become more realistic this year as the two parties, despite some controversies, are zeroing in on a negotiated political settlement as the only civilized and practical solution to end this conflict," he said.
Many Muslim countries and the United States, European Union, Canada and Australia have pledged to help in the development of Mindanao once a peace agreement is signed.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said that 80 percent of the peace talks have been completed and that peace in Mindanao is within reach.
MILF chieftain Murad Ebrahim had said that his group is sincere in the talks and is willing to end the war in Mindanao.
The MILF split in 1978 from the larger Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), which signed a peace deal with Manila in September 1996. Many of MNLF members, disgruntled with the accord's implementation, joined either the MILF or the Abu Sayyaf and renewed hostilities against the government. (Sun.Star Zamboanga/Sunnex)
(February 9, 2006 issue)
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