No agreement but ‘good mood’ in RP-MILF talks

PORT DICKSON, Malaysia (AFP) — Government and rebel negotiators meeting to end a decades-old Muslim separatist rebellion in the southern Philippines have not yet reached consensus on any points but "the mood is good," Malaysian organizers said yesterday.

"They are trying to find out what they can come to terms with," a Malaysian official told Agence France Presse on the sidelines of the second day of talks at a resort in this port city south of Kuala Lumpur.

"Each side has presented their points and they are asking for more details and explanation. They have not reached any consensus on any of the points."

The three-day meeting is an exploratory start to what are expected to be tough negotiations between Manila and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) over territorial issues.

The 12,000-strong MILF has been waging a rebellion since 1978, demanding that Manila give it control over what it calls its "ancestral domain."

This traditionally means the whole of Mindanao island, once ruled by a succession of Islamic sultanates until they were subdued by western powers who conquered the country.

The mineral-rich island makes up a third of the mainly Catholic Philippines and is home to the country’s Muslim minority, who say they were dispossessed of their land after Spain and later the United States introduced the western concept of titling property.

The talks in Malaysia are focused on four elements — "territorial aspects, the concept of the domains, the natural resources and governance" — the official said.

"It’ll take some time for them to come to terms," he told AFP. "The mood is good. Everybody is trying to establish a good rapport.

"This morning they met for about two hours and traded their points. They are now huddled in their own groups and will meet again late in the afternoon."

He said there were 20 delegates on each team, including officials, lawyers, historians and academics. The government team is led by President Gloria Arroyo’s chief negotiator Silvestre Afable and the MILF delegation by Mohagher Iqbal, a member of the central committee.

Preliminary talks between the government and the MILF began on Jan. 7, 1997, and a ceasefire was agreed in 2003. Malaysia and several other Organization of the Islamic Conference states have provided a small group of ceasefire monitors.

The Malaysian official said there could be further technical meetings after this one, before the next phase of a formal conference leading to the signing of a peace agreement.

MILF leader Murad Ebrahim has said the group is prepared for extended negotiations but will not sign any peace deal that falls short of its aspiration for a "Moro homeland" in Mindanao.

More than 100,000 people are estimated to have died in the conflict in the past 27 years.