MILF reiterate ready to talk but want guarantees
abs-cbnNEWS.com | 12/28/2008 6:59 PM
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| MILF spokesperson Eid Kabalu |
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on Sunday reiterated its readiness to face the Philippine government in the negotiating table as soon as possible but also said it wants guarantees once agreements are made.
Eid Kabalu, MILF spokesman, said in a phone interview that both the MILF’s peace panel and ceasefire committee are both intact. He said this is an indication that the MILF is very serious in finding a peace solution to the Mindanao conflict.
If the peace talks resumes, Kabalu said, the MILF will insist that the issue on the aborted agreement on ancestral domain be pursued.
Kabalu said that the MILF has not received any word yet from the Malaysian government, which is the facilitator of the stalled peace talks, or from the Philippine government as to when the exact date of the formal resumption of the peace talks.
MOA-AD
Earlier MILF chairman Al Haj Murad Ibrahim, in a statement signed December 26, said MILF is “open to resume the 'collapsed' or stalled GRP-MILF Peace Talks but raised the issue of Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) that would still need to be resolved by both parties. Murad’s statement was published in the Web site of MILF Central Committee on Information, luwaran.net, Saturday.
Murad said MILF still observes the ceasefire agreement with the Philippine government “despite sustained and massive offensive of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) conducted against the so-called three rogue commanders of the MILF, which spilled over to areas of other MILF base commanders and did not only widen the theater of war in Mindanao but also resulted into a 'humanitarian crisis' of grand scale.”
Murad however pointed to the Philippine government as the "main stumbling block" for the success of the peace talks citing the Philippine government's refusal to sign the "initialed” MOA-AD last August in Malaysia.
He said the MILF do not want a repeat of the "debacle in Malaysia" which Murad said was "mainly consequence of lack of government's political will and diplomatic finesse or accountability.”
Guarantee sought
So that the "MOA-AD tragedy" would not be repeated anymore, Murad said there “must be an international guarantee composed of states or association of states, which will provide guarantee that both GRP and MILF will honor and implement agreement or agreements forged by the parties.”
Murad said the MILF still seeks the resolution of MOA-AD issue which he said MILF viewed as a "done deal" versus the Philippine government's decision to scrap and no longer sign the agreement.
Kabalu had also earlier said the scuttled MOA-AD would be one of the talking points in the peace negotiations once they resume.
"This is a resumption of talks so the point is we will be talking where we stopped, and where did we stop? We stopped at the non-conclusion of the MOA on Ancestral Domain," he told ANC earlier.
Murad also said that the AFP immediately cease its offensive against the MILF "in the guise of running after its three 'rogue commanders'.
Murad added that Malaysia "will stay as facilitator of peace talks."
The Philippine government had just recently announced the recomposition of its peace panel with the MILF. With reports from Jasper Acosta and Lerio Bompat, ABS-CBN News Central Mindanao
