MILF: NO BULIOK PULLOUT, NO TALKS. Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels warned yesterday they will not resume peace talks with the government unless troops are pulled out of their former stronghold in Buliok, Maguindanao.
Mohaqher Iqbal, MILF information committee chief, said the rebels would not return to the negotiating table unless the government "repositioned" troops outside the marshy former guerrilla zone overrun by soldiers last February. The two sides agreed to the withdrawal of troops from Buliok during a meeting in Malaysia in March, he added.
Iqbal said the rebels were also awaiting the deployment of 25 ceasefire monitors from Malaysia and four other Islamic states. Iqbal said the Joint Communiqué signed by the government and the MILF in Cyberjaya, Malaysia on May 6, 2002 requires proper coordination between the two sides in the arrest of criminals. "There should be proper coordination since President Arroyo announced that she would even lead the hunt for (fugitive terrorist Fathur Rohman) al-Ghozi," he said.
On the other hand, MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu said he fears the entry of government troops in "MILF areas" might trigger hostilities between the troops and rebels. The manhunt for Al-Ghozi in "MILF areas" might have violated the Joint Communiqué, which could disrupt any peace negotiation next month, he added.
Lt. Gen. Rodolfo Garcia, Armed Forces vice chief of staff, said an advance team of Malaysian observers was due in Mindanao next week. The government is confident about the resumption of talks next month, he added. Garcia declined to comment on the MILF demand for a pullout from Buliok.
Source: Philippine Star, 26 September 2003
RP CONFIDENT OF ADMISSION AS OBSERVER IN MUSLIM BODY. The Department of Foreign Affairs is confident the Philippines will be given observer status in the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) when the 57-nation bloc meets in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia next month.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas Ople said OIC secretary general Abdelouahed Belkeziz and Libyan Foreign Minister Abdulrahman Mohamed Shalgham have both reiterated their support for Manila’s OIC bid during separate meetings at the sidelines of the United Nations general assembly yesterday. Ople said the two officials also believed that the Philippines has fully complied with the 1996 peace agreement that the government had signed with the separatist Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).
He said the multilateral Committee of Eight, which the OIC formed to oversee the implementation of the 1996 peace pact, will soon complete its work. The OIC summit in Kuala Lumpur will be held at around the same time as the resumption of the government’s peace talks with another separatist group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which Malaysia will be hosting next month.
Aside from the peace process, Ople said that they also discussed world developments that deeply affect the interests of OIC member-countries. Manila’s admission as an OIC observer is expected to boost peace efforts in Mindanao since the OIC only recognizes the MNLF as the sole representatives of Muslims in Mindanao.
Source: Philippine Star, 26 September 2003
MACAPAGAL WANTS MILF PEACE TALKS IN OCTOBER. President Macapagal-Arroyo will push for the resumption of peace talks with the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front ahead of the October summit of the Organization of Islamic Conference, the government's chief negotiator Eduardo Ermita said Thursday.
The President is expected to take up the issue with Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad whom she will be meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York on Sept. 25, Ermita said. The 10th summit of the OIC, which has also been helping to broker a peace deal between the government and the MILF, will be held in Kuala Lumpur from Oct. 14 to 16.
Ms Macapagal has been invited to attend the opening session of the OIC summit and will become only the fourth head of state outside the 57-member bloc of Muslim-led countries to attend a summit of the grouping. Malaysia has been hosting exploratory talks between the government and the MILF. Ermita, who heads the government peace negotiating panel, said Malaysian officials have said that the issue of setting the date for the talks would have to be cleared with Mahathir.
The MILF said it welcomed the President's initiative to speed up the peace process. "Like everybody else, we are also willing to resume the negotiations as soon as possible. We also wanted an end to this long-running dispute," said MILF spokesperson Eid Kabalu. He suggested the schedule of the talks might not be finalized until after the arrival of an international ceasefire-monitoring team here.
Source: Philippines Daily Inquirer, 19 September 2003 Inquirer, 09/19/2003
LAND, ADMINISTRATIVE CONTROL ISSUES DOG TALKS WITH MILF. Muslim demands for control of land and local governments may emerge as the main obstacle in the resumption of formal peace talks between the government and the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), officials said Tuesday.
"This is the most ticklish issue. It could be a stumbling block," MILF spokesperson Eid Kabalu said, referring to the issue of "ancestral domain" on the agenda of the talks. Kabalu said ancestral domain "goes beyond the issue of land itself" and covered a wide "historical background" related to Muslims in the southern Philippines.
The government is worried that large tracts of land claimed by Muslims may already be in private hands or occupied by Christian or tribal groups. A source on the government panel said the land issue and control over local governments in the southern Philippines were the unresolved matters that could delay the resumption of negotiations. To avoid clashes that might block the talks, "the government is proposing that a procedural mechanism should be put in place to identify what are these ancestral domains" rather than making them an issue in the negotiations, the government source said. Kabalu said the MILF panel was likely to confine the issue on ancestral domains "to the areas where the Muslims are predominantly located."
Special government intermediary Norberto Gonzales said on Monday that the negotiations could resume in October.
Kabalu said both sides had "agreed to put in place all necessary structures to assure the cessation of hostilities of the forces on the ground." This includes the completion of the "terms of reference" that would allow Islamic countries like Malaysia to dispatch "third-party observers" who would monitor the ceasefire between the government and the rebel forces, Kabalu said. Malaysia, which is hosting the planned talks between the Philippines and the MILF, has been asked to provide the bulk of third-party monitors, with Bangladesh, Bahrain, Brunei and Libya among others also asked to pitch in.
Source: Philippines Daily Inquirer, 10 September 2003
MILF WANTS GOV’T TROOPS OUT OF BULIOK BEFORE PEACE TALKS. A spokesperson for the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) insisted Thursday that government troops must pull out from a captured key MILF territory, the Buliok complex, before peace talks could resume.
MILF spokesperson Eid Kabalu claimed that Malaysia, which is acting as host and broker of the talks, was obviously waiting for the government to comply with an earlier agreement that soldiers who overrun the former MILF enclave in February return to barracks. Kuala Lumpur has yet to issue the formal invitation for the talks that a government official said could start next week. Mahid Mutilan, vice governor of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao who is an adviser to the government negotiating panel, told the Inquirer the other day that the invitation would be coming by next week.
Kabalu said, however, that without a pullout of the troops from the complex, the talks cannot start. The military said a Marine contingent and a battalion of regular troops were securing the complex to prevent the MILF rebels from harassing returning civilians. Kabalu said the MILF had not received any timetable for the talks.
Source: Philippines Daily Inquirer, 22 August 2003
MILF APOLOGIZES FOR KEEPING SALAMAT DEATH UNDER WRAPS. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has apologized for the two-week delay of announcing the demise of its founder and chairman Hashim Salamat.
In a radio broadcast late Wednesday in a local dialect in Maguindanao, the MILF explained that the death of Salamat was not immediately relayed because of some "unresolved issues." A prominent Muslim leader who requested anonymity claimed the radio broadcast, however, failed to mention the reasons for the delay. He said that under Islamic tradition, the death of Salamat must be immediately relayed to close family members for proper burial arrangements to be made within 24 hours after his death.
MILF vice chairman for political affairs Ghadzali Jaafar announced the death of Salamat over state-run Radyo ng Bayan last Tuesday. Jaafar later told another radio station that Salamat died from heart failure on July 13 in the town of Butig in Lanao del Sur and was buried the same day, in accordance with Muslim traditions. Jaafar had explained the delay in announcing the death was to enable the MILF central committee to inform Salamat’s relatives and choose a successor.
After a weeklong meeting, the top leadership chose Al Haj Murad Ebrahim, vice chairman for military affairs as the new MILF chairman. Even MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu explained the delay in announcing Salamat’s death was in accordance with procedures. This is to make sure the MILF leadership will not be in a vacuum so as not to demoralize their fighters in the field, he said. It was gathered, however, that even the close relatives of Salamat were not informed of his death, which was kept under wraps by the MILF central committee.
In a statement, the MILF yesterday said a general assembly, held July 30 and 31, had overwhelmingly reaffirmed for a peaceful and negotiated solution to the armed conflict. Muhamad Ameen, head of the secretariat, said the MILF Central Committee also gave a fresh mandate to the rebel peace panel for the Kuala Lumpur talks as reaffirmed by the body. The statement said that other rebel leaders are also being considered to be named as MILF chairman. But for now, the MILF said, Murad will be sitting as the chairman.
Source: Philippine Star, 8 August 2003
OFFICIALS: DEATH OF MILF CHAIR WON’T STALL PEACE TALKS. Peace talks between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) would push through despite the death of MILF chair Salamat Hashim, government and Muslim separatist officials said Tuesday.
"We are determined to pursue the peace process until lasting peace is achieved," MILF spokesperson Eid Kabalu told GMA 7. "We are saddened by Hashim's death but this won't affect the peace process," Kabalu said in Filipino. "I think the flow of the peace talks is picking up," Secretary Eduardo Ermita, the government's chief negotiator, said in a separate interview.
Ermita added the meeting between ceasefire negotiators from both sides, which started last Monday, would pave the way for the scheduling of formal talks in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Kabalu said the "second in line," Al Haj Ebrahim Murad, MILF vice chair for military affairs, would take over Hashim's post. But Kabalu said the MILF central committee could replace Murad as its chief negotiator since under the "structure and procedure" of peace talks, the MILF chair could not act as lead broker.
Ermita meanwhile welcomed Murad's appointment as the MILF's new leader. "The pragmatic pronouncements of Murad and (MILF vice chair on political affairs Ghazali) Jaafar would give (the) peace process a better chance of succeeding," Senator Rodolfo Biazon, vice chair of the defense committee, said in a news briefing. In the hierarchy of the MILF, Biazon said Hashim represented the "fundamentalist faction," while Jaafar and Murad were the "pragmatists."
Source: Philippines Daily Inquirer, 6 August 2003
SALAMAT DEAD; MURAD TAKES OVER. Hashim Salamat, chairman of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), has died due to heart failure, a ranking rebel official confirmed yesterday.
"We would like to inform that brother Hashim passed away last July 13 somewhere in Mindanao because of heart failure," MILF vice chairman for political affairs Ghadzali Jaafar said over state-run Radyo ng Bayan. Jaafar later told Catholic radio dxMS that Salamat died in the town of Butig in Lanao del Sur and was buried the same day, in accordance with Muslim traditions.
Jaafar said Al Haj Murad Ebrahim succeeded Salamat as chairman after he was elected by the MILF central committee. He said Al Siddique has replaced Murad as vice chairman for military affairs. Murad will continue to lead the peace talks with the government, Jaafar said.
The Malaysian government, which is brokering the peace talks between the MILF and Manila, does not see Salamat’s death as a hindrance to the talks. "We regret his death. He did his work towards peace, took the necessary steps to meet government demands. He denounced terrorism, he joined the May 4 resumption of peace talks and for that he should be honored," said Malaysian Ambassador Mohammed Taufik.
Jaafar said there was a delay in announcing the death because the MILF’s central committee had to inform Salamat’s relatives and choose a successor. After a week-long meeting, the top leadership chose Murad as the new MILF chairman, Jaafar said. Jaafar stressed there will be no changes in the MILF’s revolutionary policies, including its intention of pursuing a peaceful, political settlement of their rebellion.
MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu also explained the delay in announcing Salamat’s death was in accordance with procedures. This is to make sure the MILF leadership will be not be in a vacuum and not to demoralize their fighters in the field. Kabalu, however, said Murad cannot continue as the chief rebel negotiator in the peace talks with the government because "it is against policy."
Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. praised Salamat as "one of the great Muslim visionaries of Southeast Asia who brought Mindanao to the dawn of a final peace settlement." Sen. Aquilino Pimentel expressed sadness over Salamat’s demise. "I am saddened by his death. I pray for the eternal repose of his soul," Pimentel said,
In Marawi City, thousands of Muslims expressed shock after learning that Salamat already died. Women in the crowd cried out loud while others bowed their heads to manifest their mourning. Some houses and buildings and public vehicles displayed white flags as a Muslim symbol for mourning. A day-long "Yahatul Miyana" (prayer) in several mosques in the city will be held in honor of Salamat whom they consider a martyr.
Even some from the military have expressed sadness over Salamat’s death. Troops from the Army’s 4th Infantry "Diamond" Division expressed grief and sadness and hoped that the death of the MILF chairman will not plunge Mindanao deeper into chaos. Vice President Teofisto Guingona Jr. yesterday expressed hopes the search for a "just and lasting peace" will gain further momentum with the announcement that Murad has assumed the chairmanship of the MILF. Presidential adviser for peace process and chief government negotiator Eduardo Ermita also expressed sadness over the death of Salamat.
Source: Philippine Star, 6 August 2003