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| Security fears over Filippino peace talks |
| 2004-02-18 |
| The Philippines plans to resume informal talks with Muslim rebels on Thursday, but officials on the war-torn island of Mindanao warned that pulling back troops could jeopardise their support for a formal peace deal. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who is seeking a fresh term in general elections on May 10, has expressed hope her government can sign a peace pact with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) before Filipinos go the polls. But many analysts -- and the rebels themselves -- consider this wildly optimistic after years of stop-start efforts to end three decades of separatist violence in the south of this mainly Roman Catholic country. A two-day meeting will start on Thursday in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur, a senior military official told Reuters on Tuesday, adding both sides were expected to focus on removing obstacles so that formal negotiations can restart. "The exploratory talks in Malaysia will go on as scheduled," said Eid "Lipless Eddie" Kabalu, a spokesman for the 12,000-member MILF, the largest of four Muslim rebel groups in the Philippines. "But there can’t be any formal talks unless all three of our preconditions are met." The MILF demands that the government pull its troops from a guerrilla enclave at Buliok in Mindanao, withdraw criminal cases against rebel leaders and deploy a Malaysian-led team to observe a fragile ceasefire. But Manuel Pinol, the governor of North Cotabato province and an ally of Arroyo, has threatened to quit if the government heeds the rebel demand to remove soldiers from Buliok. "I have told them not to touch my province," he told Reuters. "Any peace agreement should not be at the expense of the overall security of our homes." Pinol said municipal mayors in his province would oppose any troop pullout because it could give the MILF and criminal groups an operational base. Officials in the nearby provinces of South Cotabato and Maguindanao shared similar sentiments, Pinol said. "It’s not our problem," said Kabalu, the rebel spokesman, adding it would be up to Arroyo to balance the feelings of local politicians and her government’s commitment to peace in Mindanao. Kabalu said negotiators meeting in Kuala Lumpur would seek to define the role of 25 ceasefire monitors to be sent by Malaysia and other Islamic states, who are expected to be deployed this month as soon as the guidelines are agreed. "The agenda is wide open and both sides could talk about ways to overcome the difficult obstacles for the resumption of formal negotiations," he said. Kabalu said the success of the peace moves did not rest with the MILF as the rebels had waited for the government to comply with several minor agreements reached as early as last June. "The ball is in their hands. We have done our part," he said. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |