MILF nixes ARMM gab

COTABATO CITY, Philippines  – The Moro Islamic Liberation Front has declined to participate in the Sept. 20-21 regional peace summit in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Muhammad Ameen, chief secretariat of the MILF’s central committee, said they can only get involved in peace initiatives that are based on protocols they have bilaterally established with the government and with the participation of Malaysia as facilitator.

“We recognize and acknowledge the good intention of this peace summit, but its ambit is within the framework of ARMM as government’s creation,” Ameen said in an e-mailed statement.

The MILF does not recognize the 21-year-old ARMM as a solution to the decades-old quest of Southern Moro communities for self-governance and even want it replaced with an entity tailored-fit to its concept of an exclusive Muslim governing mechanism that has more comprehensive powers and control of resources within its territorial coverage.

Organized by the office of acting ARMM Gov. Ansarudin Adiong, the summit, participated in by representatives from the Malaysian and Indonesian embassies, local officials from across the autonomous region, officials of fo­reign donor entities, and peace advocacy outfits, some of them bankrolled by international organizations - is aimed at documenting public sentiments and views on the Mindanao peace process and re­commended measures on how to accelerate the initiative.

The ARMM’s regional executive secretary, lawyer Naguib Sinarimbo, said all documented outputs of the cross-section peace summit will be submitted to Malacañang.

The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), which signed a peace pact with government on Sept. 2, 1996, is represented in the summit by Cotabato City Vice Mayor Muslimin Sema.

Sema is chairman of the most dominant of at least four factions in the MNLF, one of them Nur Misuari, who was ARMM governor from 1996 to 2001.

The government-MNLF 1996 final peace accord is now the subject of a review due to misunderstandings on the implementation of some of its sensitive provisions.

The review of the peace pact, which involves representatives of the national government and ARMM, officials of the MNLF, and senior officials of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), is focused on five special concerns - political representation of Moro communities, regional security, natural resources, Sharia jurisprudence and education.

The MILF also does not recognize the GRP-MNLF final peace pact, which the OIC, a pan-Islamic block of more than 50 Muslim countries, including wealthy petroleum-exporting nations in the Middle East and Africa.

The MILF’s website, www.luwaran.net <http://www.luwaran.net/>, said organizers of the ARMM regional peace summit directly invited Al-Haj Murad to attend the event.

“But the invitation was politely declined,” the www.luwaran.net <http://www.luwaran.net/> said.

Rebels clash with gov’t troops

Relatedly, Muslim separatist rebels clashed with government troops in Cotabato just before a “peace summit” to try to end bloodshed in the region, military officials said yesterday.

Guerrillas of the MILF attacked a military outpost in Cotabato late Sunday, sparking an hour-long gunfight, said military spokesman Colonel Benjamin Hao.

“Our military detachment was harassed by lawless MILF groups. They could be out to spoil the peace talks,” he told AFP.