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Friday, February 17, 2006
Malaysia hails RP-MILF talks, sees pact this year
By Al Jacinto
ZAMBOANGA CITY -- Malaysian Armed Forces chief of staff Vice Admiral Dato Mat Rabi Bin Abu Samah on Thursday hailed the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) for their efforts in putting an end to more than three decades of strife in Mindanao.
Manila is currently negotiating peace with the MILF, the country's largest Muslim separatist rebel group, and Samah sees a peace pact before the year ends.
"There are positive indicators that both peace panels are moving toward that direction. Both the Philippines and the MILF seem very eager to sign a peace agreement, probably in September this year," Samah said.
Samah's group arrived in Zamboanga City Thursday and met with international truce observers based inside the Southern Command military headquarters.
He also met with Filipino security officials led by Brigadier General Francisco Callero, who briefed the Malaysian delegation about the peace and order situation in Mindanao.
Samah praised President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for her efforts in ending the insurgency in Mindanao, and said Malaysia will continue to support Manila's peace agenda in the strife-torn, but mineral-rich southern region, home to about five million ethnic Muslims.
"The bilateral cooperation between Malaysia and the Philippines is getting stronger and we will continue supporting the peace process in Mindanao," he said.
Arroyo opened peace negotiations with the MILF in 2001 and Malaysia, an influential member of the Organization of Islamic Conference, is helping broker the talks in en effort to bring stability to the region.
Government and rebel peace negotiators last week agreed to a Muslim homeland under the so-called ancestral domain.
In September, government and rebel peace negotiators have 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 for the rebel group.
Many Muslim countries, the United States, European Union, Canada, and Australia have pledged to help in the development of Mindanao once the peace agreement is signed.
The Australian Agency for International Development has already contributed over $17 million in peace and development projects in Mindanao the past seven years.
Arroyo said 80 percent of the peace talks have been completed and that peace in Mindanao is within reach, and MILF chieftain Murad Ebrahim said 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 were disgruntled with the accord and joined either the MILF or the Abu Sayyaf and renewed hostilities against the government. (Sun.Star Zamboanga/Sunnex)
(February 17, 2006 issue)
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