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Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Son of Libyan president joins peace talks
By Ben O. Tesiorna
DAVAO CITY -- The son of Libyan President Colonel Muammar Qaddhafi is expected to arrive in Manila Wednesday to talk with leaders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) on the "unity" issue.
An official of the Libyan Embassy in Manila confirmed the arrival of Saiful Islam Qaddhafi.
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This is not the first visit of the young Qaddhafi in the Philippines.
In 1999, Qaddhafi visited Sultan Kudarat in Shariff Kabunsuan during one of the early talks of the MILF and the Philippine government to relay and reiterate his father's commitment to the peaceful resolution of the conflict in Mindanao.
Qaddhafi also paid a courtesy call to the late MILF chairman Salamat Hashim at Camp Abubakar As-Siddique, the largest MILF camp in Mindanao.
Libyan Ambassador to the Philippines Rajab Azzarouq and some MNLF leaders accompanied Qaddhafi during his first visit in the country. Former Philippine National Police chief now Senator Panfilo Lacson was also with the entourage.
The MILF meantime has formed a five-man delegation to meet the young Qaddhafi in Manila and to relay the MILF position on the unity issue.
The composition of the team is described as geographically well balanced -- one from Lanao, one from Basilan, one from Sulu, and one each from Maguindanao and Cotabato City.
Khaled Musa, deputy chairman of the MILF Committee on Information, said no one in the MILF disfavors unity because this is what Islam obliges every Moro man to do.
MILF military spokesman Eid Kabalu said the meeting will take place in Shangri-la Makati.
He said the original plan was for the meeting to be held in Mindanao. Kabalu however did not elaborate the reason for the sudden change of venue.
Libya currently has representatives to the International Monitoring Team (IMT), monitoring and enforcing the ceasefire between the MILF and the Philippine government. The IMT also counts the membership of Malaysia, the lead country, Brunei, Japan, and lately Canada. (Sun.Star Davao/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Bacolod. (December 12, 2007 issue)
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