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Southeast Asia | ||||
Philippines close to | ||||
2006-02-07 | ||||
KUALA LUMPUR - Muslim rebels and the Philippine government are close to a deal on land claims, the key to ending a 40-year insurgency that has cost more than 120,000 lives, the facilitator of the talks said on Tuesday. Negotiators from Manila and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), now in Malaysia for talks, are putting “final touches” on a preliminary agreement on the issue, Othman Abdul Razak, special adviser to Malaysia’s prime minister, told Reuters. “We are quite optimistic. Everyone is quite optimistic. There is a groundswell in support of the peace process, especially from the Muslims,” said Othman, who is facilitating the talks on behalf of Malaysia, seen by both sides as a neutral party.
“If everything goes on smoothly, we can have it probably before Ramadan,” said Othman, a strategic adviser to successive prime ministers and a top bureaucrat with 33 years’ experience. Mainly Muslim Malaysia has been hosting talks between Manila and the MILF, the largest of four Muslim rebel groups in the mainly Roman Catholic country, since March 2001. The 12,000-strong MILF has been fighting for an independent Islamic state in the impoverished but mineral rich southern island of Mindanao. The conflict has stunted the island’s development and hurt the nation’s overall investment climate. In Manila, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said in a statement the peace process with the MILF was an essential part of
So far, international support has been very limited. Only Malaysia, Brunei and Libya have deployed a team overseeing the ceasefire on Mindanao. Othman said there should also be offers from other countries to help develop infrastructure, train manpower and create jobs. “We are appealing to the international community to lend support in capacity-building before the final agreement. We need it now,” he said. What will the MILF’s guerrillas do if peace breaks out? “In peacetime, what do you do with the fighters? You have to make them become economically useful citizens. Otherwise, they become criminals. That’s the danger.”
Othman played down concerns about alleged MILF links to groups such as Jemaah Islamiah, the Southeast Asian militant Islamic network blamed for a string of deadly bombings in Indonesia. “There’s always been concerns about the existence of terrorists in the midst of MILF,” he said. “I think this is much exaggerated. MILF is aware that JI will not serve their interest. It will only derail their struggle, their objectives, what they been struggling for 40 years.”
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#3 Completely correct. This "peace" deal is just a bribery scam to enrich the MILF leadership. Fact is, I don't see what the Phil government is actually conceding. There is very little of value in the area. Maybe all that international aid, should it ever show up. |
Posted by: buwaya 2006-02-07 15:38 |
#2 What will the MILFÂ’s guerrillas do if peace breaks out? Simple. the MILF will 'splinter' into yet-another-group who will continue the fighting. Meanwhile the Ph Government will be bound to a treaty with a skeleton crew who remain as the MILF (and will give the killers cover in 'MILF' lands, access to Arms and explosives, etc....) |
Posted by: CrazyFool 2006-02-07 10:57 |
#1 Now, if we can sneek a good cartoon into the Manila newspapers, the JI will lose their cool and this whole process will collapse before anything becomes final. Where's Doonsbury when we need him ? |
Posted by: wxjames 2006-02-07 09:26 |