Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Malaysia agrees to broker new round of peace talks
By Al Jacinto
MALAYSIA has agreed to initiate another round of talks between the Philippines and Muslim rebels fighting for independence in Mindanao island, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said.
Abdullah said President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo personally requested him to initiate the talks following an impasse on the issue of ancestral domain claim by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Mindanao.
"President Arroyo had asked me when we met at the ASEAN-China Commemorative Summit in Nanning, China last month," the Bernama news agency quoted Abdullah as telling Malaysian journalists in Islamabad.
Abdullah, chairman of the influential Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), is on a three-day official visit to Pakistan. He said he had expressed Malaysia's willingness to initiate the talks so that both sides could resume discussions to narrow their differences.
In Mindanao, the MILF on Tuesday praised the Malaysian premier for his gesture and said it is willing to return to peace negotiations.
"We welcome the kind gesture of Prime Minister Abdullah and this is a positive development and reaffirms Malaysia's commitment to continue the peace process in Mindanao. The MILF is also firm on its stand on the issue of the Muslim ancestral domain," a rebel spokesman, Eid Kabalu, said.
Malaysia is brokering peace talks between the Filipino government and the MILF, the country's largest Muslim rebel group.
Arroyo opened peace negotiations with the MILF in 2001, but there had been no major agreements since then except for a fragile cease-fire.
Peace talks ended in September in Malaysia with both sides failing to sign any agreement on the most contentious issue -- ancestral domain -- which 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.
The MILF last month warned that Manila should be blamed if the peace talks fail, saying, many rebels are slowly losing their patience on the five-year old peace talks.
Murad Ebrahim, the MILF chieftain, said the talks are now passing "a turbulent area" and that the Filipino government must take responsibility for the breakdown of the negotiations.
"This signals that we are now on the danger zone of the peace talks," Ebrahim said, referring to the failure of the negotiations on Sept. 9 held in Malaysia, which is brokering the peace talks.
The MILF has rejected Manila's offer for a limited autonomy in the mineral-rich, but restive Mindanao island, home to about four million Muslims who want a separate Islamic state.
Mohagher Iqbal, the head of the MILF peace panel, said Tuesday the Philippine government previously offered them the five-province Muslim autonomous region and 613 other Muslim villages in exchange for a peace deal.
"They offered the MILF the whole of the Muslim autonomous region and 613 other Muslim villages scattered in Mindanao, but all these are subject to Philippine legislation. Peace cannot be unilaterally imposed on the MILF and the Muslim people," Iqbal said.
Manila said it will present to the MILF a new proposal aimed at resolving the ancestral domain issue hounding peace talks between both camps.
"The Philippine negotiators are still crafting new proposals. We do not know what they have to offer us," Iqbal said. "The government peace negotiators said they will meet with us this month to discuss that proposal."
The Muslim autonomous region is composed of Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi -- which are among the poorest in the country torn by strife and clan wars since its creation in 1989.
The MILF previously proposed that the Muslims be given an option to choose in a referendum whether they wanted Mindanao to be an independent state or not, but only after the issue on ancestral domain is settled.
But for the MILF, the quest for peace is important to all Muslims in Mindanao. "There is no template for peace and what we need is a political settlement in Mindanao to bring development to the land we call home," Iqbal said.
The MILF has previously submitted its proposal to the government peace negotiators, but they disagreed on the scope of coverage of the Muslim ancestral domain, Iqbal said.
The ancestral domain covers the five Muslim autonomous provinces of Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao. And other areas in Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga Sibugay, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Sarangani provinces where there are large communities of Muslims and indigenous tribes.
The MILF previously said it is willing to compromise if only to arrive at an acceptable, reasonable and comprehensive agreement that would include not only the Muslims, but all 18 ethnic tribal groups in Mindanao. Once an agreement is reached on how the MILF can govern these areas, government and rebel peace negotiators would finally discuss the political settlement of the country's longest-running Muslim insurgency problem.
Peace talks between the government and MILF started in January 1997 but the absence of a neutral third party bogged down the initiative. It was only on March 24, 2001, after the all-out war against the MILF declared by former President Joseph Estrada that Malaysia, at the behest of the Philippine government, facilitated the talks.
However, in February 2003, despite the avowed all-peace policy of President Arroyo, an all-out war was again declared against the rebels, but both sides later agreed to resume peace talks. Just this year, President Arroyo said that 80% of the peace talks have been completed and that permanent peace in Mindanao is within reach.
Ebrahim, in his past statement, said the MILF will continue the peace talks, but warned the government that the rebel group would side with the Muslims should they decide on other means to continue their struggle for freedom.
"For the MILF, negotiation is still the best option to resolve the conflict in Mindanao. We have already spent so much time, efforts and resources for this," Ebrahim said. "However, if the government insists to dilly-dally and treat the peace talks as mere counterinsurgency tool, who can blame the Bangsamoro people if they choose other means to continue their legitimate struggle for freedom and self-determination? For the MILF, we will stand by our people."For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Bacolod. (November 8, 2006 issue)
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