MILF: No turning back on peace talks

SULTAN KUDARAT, Maguindanao , Philippines  – The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) yesterday allayed apprehensions of a possible collapse in its 12-year peace talks with the government.

“The MILF has no intention of turning its back on the peace talks. We are for a peaceful, negotiated settlement of the Mindanao problem,” said Ghadzali Jaafar, the front’s vice chairman for political affairs.

“It’s normal for peace negotiations to encounter some hitches. These are concerns that need to be ironed out by the two peace panels,” he added.

The MILF, which has been fighting for an exclusively Muslim-led “sub-state” in Mindanao, has rejected the government’s offer of “enhanced autonomy” that would cover areas where its forces are scattered during the latest meeting of both sides in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Jaafar said they have indeed asked for the deferment of the peace talks to allow the MILF to study the government’s peace accord draft.

“It’s normal for two parties engaged in peace negotiations to have proposals, counter-proposals. Let’s not entertain or listen to stories circulating that the peace talks might again possibly collapse. Let’s keep on hoping it will not,” Jaafar said.

There is talk that the MILF sought the postponement of the peace talks, slated last week, due to “big differences” on the two panels’ drafts of a peace agreement.

The MILF, according to insiders, does not agree with the government’s offer of an “enhanced autonomy” for southern Muslim communities.

Meanwhile, a nine-man Malaysian survey team is now in Mindanao to make final preparations for the arrival of a new Malaysian-led International Monitoring Team (IMT) that will oversee the ceasefire with the MILF before the end of the month, the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) said.

The delegation is headed by Lt. Gen. Datuk Raja Mohamed Affandi bin Raja Mohamed Noor, chief of staff of Malaysia’s Armed Forces, the OPAPP said.

Maj. Gen. Datuk Baharom bin Hamzah is the head of mission of the incoming IMT.

First deployed in southern Philippines in 2004, the IMT is tasked to monitor the ceasefire between the military and the MILF. Aside from Malaysia, the other IMT members are Brunei, Libya and Japan.

Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Rafael Seguis, who chairs the government peace panel, said the governments of Norway, Indonesia and Qatar have been invited to join the IMT.

Recently, an International Contact Group composed of Britain, Japan, Turkey, and organizations such as the Center for Humanitarian Dialogue, Asia Foundation and Conciliation Resources was recently formed.