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By Al Jacinto, Correspondent
ZAMBOANGA CITY: Muslim rebels negotiating peace
with Manila warned Friday that a fragile truce they signed with the
government could be in peril once the remaining international truce
observers pulled out of Mindanao.
Dozens of Malaysian ceasefire observers, part of
the International Monitoring Team (IMT), have already pulled out
from Mindanao last month because of the slow progress of the peace
talks between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the
Arroyo government.
Malaysia has blamed the Philippine government
for stalling the peace talks aimed at ending more than three decades
of Muslim insurgency.
“The mandate of the Malaysian-led IMT will end
on August 31, unless it is renewed and we are afraid the cease-fire
agreement may be violated again by the Philippine military and
fighting could erupt that would endanger the peace process,”
Mohagher Iqbal, chief MILF peace negotiator, told The Manila Times.
Sporadic fighting between soldiers and rebels
broke out last month in Basilan province shortly after Malaysia
pulled out its truce observers. The MILF accused the military of
attacking rebels working in a farm, triggering days of sporadic
clashes, but security officials denied this and said guerillas fired
on patrolling soldiers.
The MILF has repeatedly warned security forces
to stay away from anywhere near rebel camps and soldiers had been
reported encroaching in those areas and sparking sporadic clashes.
Iqbal had accused the Arroyo government of
delaying the peace talks after negotiations were stalled last year
over demands for Muslim ancestral domain.
Rebel leaders said the ancestral domain is the
single most important issue in the peace negotiations before they
can reach a political settlement and with the talks stalled the hope
of ending more than three decades of bloody hostilities remains dim.
Manila said the provisions of the peace
agreement should be within the framework of the Constitution.
Government negotiators, led by Rodolfo Garcia, had previously
approved the ancestral domain only to renege on the deal later.
Iqbal said the MILF will abide by the seven-year
truce accord, but warned Manila that rebels would fight to defend
their rights. “We want peace to reign, but we cannot afford to be
targets of military offensives while we are negotiating for an end
to hostilities in Mindanao,” he said, adding, the MILF is still
optimistic that the stalled talks will resume soon.
He said the MILF would only resume negotiations
if Manila would honor its commitment to grant Muslims their
ancestral lands in the southern Philippines.
“All we ask the Philippine government is to
honor its commitment to the peace process and respect the rights of
the Muslims in the country,” Iqbal said.
The MILF, an army of more than 12,000 mujahideen,
boasts of millions of supporters in Mindanao, where the government
is battling communist insurgency and terrorism.
Murad Ebrahim, the secluded leader of the MILF,
said Manila is to be blamed should the peace talks collapse. “If
the peace process fails as a result of the government’s
dilly-dallying and spoiling, we are left with no choice, but to seek
other means of achieving our objective. Should that happen the
government is to blame for failing to settle the conflict through
diplomatic means,” he said.
The MILF previously appealed to rebels and
supporters for patience as the talks stalled over demands for a
separate Muslim homeland.
“The Philippine Government bears the
responsibility to comply with its commitment to adhere to the
consensus points and agreed Memorandum of Agreement draft proposal
on ancestral domain. Such moves will avert the peace process from
falling apart.”
“Let me reiterate to all, including the
international community that the MILF leadership is very serious and
fully committed to resolve the conflict between the Bangsamoro
people in Mindanao and the Government of the Republic of the
Philippines through the current peace process,” Ebrahim said.
Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib
Tun Razak said Kuala Lumpur wanted progress in the peace process.
Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim also
said Kuala Lumpur will not be sending any more truce observers to
Mindanao after the mandate of its current team ends. Members of the
Malaysian Defense Forces had been in Mindanao since 2004.
The monitoring team is composed of 41 officers
from the Malaysian Defense Forces, the Royal Malaysia Police, and
the Prime Minister’s Department and is also supported by 10
military officers from Brunei Darussalam and 5 from Libya. Canada
and Japan also have members in the team. Since the IMT arrived,
fighting between security and rebel forces drastically decreased
from 698-armed clashes in 2004 to just 7 incidents last year.
Mohammad Ameen, a senior rebel leader, said the
MILF would only sign a peace deal with the Arroyo government if it
establishes genuine governance for Muslims either in the form of a
“state” or “substate”.
President Gloria Arroyo opened up peace talks
with the MILF in 2001 and signed a ceasefire agreement, but some
rebel commanders see the negotiations as a strategy aimed at
temporarily stopping the hostilities in Mindanao until her term ends
in 2010 and pass on the secessionist problems to the next president.
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