Friday, December 14, 2007
Philippine Muslim rebels agree to unify at meeting with Libyan leader's son (3:12 p.m.)
MANILA -- Feuding Muslim rebel factions agreed during a meeting with the Libyan leader's son to unify by next year as part of efforts to end a decades-long Islamic insurgency in the southern Philippines, officials said Friday.
Seif el-Islam Gadhafi, whose country has been mediating in the conflict, told Muslim representatives that Arab and Libyan investors were ready to support a future Muslim homeland in the Philippines once peace is established, Libyan diplomat Salem Adam told The Associated Press.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's government has said a peace agreement with the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front could be signed next year, after both sides broke an impasse over the boundaries of a Muslim territory.
However, the MILF is not the only group claiming to represent Muslims, who make up about 5 percent of the mostly Roman Catholic population.
Its predecessor, the Moro National Liberation Front, already signed a 1996 peace deal with the government that created a nominally autonomous region for Muslims.
The MILF rebels have demanded self-rule, and the MNFL itself has split into several factions over its dealings with the government. Its founder, Nur Misuari, has been jailed since 2001 over a botched uprising.
"When the two groups become one, I think the Philippine government will find it easy to discuss with them," said Adem, a former ambassador to Manila who attended the meeting Thursday.
He said rebel leaders who met with Ghadafi agreed to set a time table "for the total resolution" of the conflict no later than September 2008, according to a road map that will be put together under Gadhafi's supervision and with support of other Muslim countries.
"There've always been some differences but that can be worked out," Adam said.
MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu said Libya's initiative will boost peace prospects and said his group's "doors are always open" to the MNLF.
Adam said the groups must cooperate with the Philippine government in fighting terrorism and criminals - a major concern of the U.S. and the Philippines.
Both MILF and MNFL have been suspected of harboring al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf terrorists as well as Indonesian militants, although their leader deny any terror links.
Libya supported Muslim separatists in the southern Philippines in the early 1970s with weapons and training, then in 1976, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi brokered a peace accord with the MNFL that was not concluded until 1996.
While on a visit to Manila, the young Gadhafi, president of the Gadhafi International Foundation for Charity Associations, was awarded the Congressional Medal of Achievement in recognition of his activities. (AP) |
