Gov't, MILF end Malaysia talks with 'breakthroughs'

COTABATO CITY - The government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) ended Friday the 10-day talks in Malaysia just as the hostilities in Zamboanga City were starting to subside.

The deadly foray of the followers of Nur Misuari in Zamboanga City started September 9, a day before the start of the formal talks between the government and the MILF in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur.

The GPH and MILF panels, in a joint communiqué, said there were breakthroughs in the 10-day negotiation on the remaining power-sharing and normalization agenda of the talks.

Any final deal on the two issues will be added as an annex to the October 15, 2012 Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB), the basis for the crafting of a final government-MILF truce and reference for an enabling law for the creation of a new self-governing entity replacing the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

“The Parties acknowledge the challenge before them to ensure that the peace process between the Government and the MILF should make a lasting contribution to the task of building peace and understanding among all peoples in Mindanao,” stated the joint communiqué of the two panels.

The bilateral statement was signed by the government’s chief negotiator, Miriam Coronel-Ferrer, her MILF counterpart, Muhaquer Iqbal, and the Malaysian facilitator of the peace talks, Tengku Dato’ Ab Ghafar Tengku Mohamed.

The GPH and MILF panels did not mention of having reached any final consensus on power-sharing and normalization issues.

“Despite the gravity and difficulty of the issues, there was progress in the discussions. The Parties remain committed to find creative solutions to finish the remaining annexes and resolve to forge a comprehensive peace pact that will be inclusive of the interests and welfare of all Bangsamoro,” the statement pointed out..

The GPH and MILF also mentioned of accommodating a new member in the International Contact Group (ICG), the Community of Sant’Egidio, a Rome-based non-government religious organization active in peace-building and propagation of religious solidarity, and global peace.

The admission to the OIC --- comprised of international and domestic organizations, foreign donor outfits and foreign groups involved in community capacity-building programs -- is done through a bilateral approval by the GPH and MILF panels.

The ICG helps push the GPH-MILF talks forward and complements the socio-economic and humanitarian components of the negotiations, which Malaysia helps to facilitate.