ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / August 27, 2008) – The influential Organization of the Islamic Conference on Wednesday appealed to Manila to halt military offensives against Muslim rebels in Mindanao as weeks of fighting had killed more than 100 people.
The fighting between government forces and Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels displaced more than 160,000 people and the exodus of civilians still continue in many areas in the troubled southern region.
Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the OIC Secretary General, has expressed his deep concern over the recent outbreak of hostilities that is threatening the seven-year old peace talks between Manila and the MILF.
Hundreds of MILF rebels under Ameril Kato and Abdurahman Macapaar launched a series of attacks after the aborted signing August 5 of the memorandum of agreement on the ancestral domain between by peace negotiators.
The Supreme Court temporarily stopped the signing of the deal after some mostly Christian lawmakers and politicians opposed to the deal filed separate petitions.
The accord would have granted Muslims their own homeland in more than 700 villages across Mindanao. But the controversial agreement sparked a series of protests from residents opposed to the inclusion of their areas to the ancestral domain that will make up the so-called Bangsamoro Juridical Entity.
Ihsanoglu condemned the rebel attacks against innocent civilians, calling it illegitimate acts conducted by wayward elements affiliated with the MILF, which refused to abide to repeated appeals by the group’s leadership to maintain calm, peace and restraint in Mindanao.
Manila has demanded the MILF to surrender Kato and Macapaar and also offered P10 million rewards for their capture. The government also said it will suspend the signing of the ancestral domain agreement until the two rogue leaders are captured.
But Ihsanoglu expressed concern over the reports that the Arroyo government intends to freeze the memorandum agreement on the ancestral domain, which he said came about as a result of strenuous, long and sincere efforts by peace negotiators.
He said it is unfortunate to let undisciplined elements from the MILF determine the course of negotiations or halt the peace process.
”The Secretary General urged the parties to the conflict to rapidly return to the negotiating table and continue working together in the same positive spirit that led to the conclusion of the agreement.”
“The parties need to preserve and build upon the accomplishments so far achieved in a bid to reach the just and durable peace desired by all,” the OIC said in a statement released on Wednesday.
Ihsanoglu praised Malaysia for playing a key role in the peace talks between the Philippines and the MILF. Malaysia has been brokering the peace negotiations, but had already pulled out its truce observers deployed in Mindanao after accusing Manila of delaying the talks.
He said the OIC and other countries are supporting efforts to preserve peace and restore calm and stability in southern Philippines.
He stressed that the Manila and the MILF would work out a swift settlement to the current crisis that threatens to thwart the peace process and for both sides to refrain from giving extremist elements the opportunity to dictate their own agenda or determine the course of events in Mindanao.
On Wednesday, former rebel group, Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), also urged President Gloria Arroyo to pursue the peace talks with the MILF and end the hostilities in Mindanao.
"We urge President Arroyo and the MILF to resume the peace talks and put an end to the fighting in Mindanao," Sema, also the mayor of Cotabato City, told the Mindanao Examiner.
Arroyo has bared a shift in the basic premise of the government's peace efforts from talking with the armed groups to holding discussions with the communities in the conflict areas.
“The focus of our talks shall shift from the armed groups to the communities. The parameters governing our negotiations shall be a balance between the constitutionality and public sentiment,” she said, adding the government must maintain a peaceful and orderly society.
Arroyo said the change in the government's approach to end the Mindanao conflict prompted by the atrocities committed by the MILF attacks in Mindanao.
Hermogenes Esperon, Arroyo's peace adviser, said despite the attacks, the government will still pursue the peace talks with the MILF. "In spite of all that is happening (in Mindanao), we remain focused on our goals and that is to achieve lasting peace in Mindanao," he said.
Esperon also said the ancestral domain deal is not self-executing and that that there is a need for future discussions as peace negotiators frame the comprehensive peace agreement.
"The MOA (memorandum of agreement) on the ancestral domain should not be viewed as an end in itself, but rather a tool to reinforce agreement on the principles, and a roadmap for greater self-governance of the Bangsamoro people," he said.
Esperon said there is need to amend the Constitution to allow referendum on areas under the ancestral domain.
But Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita on Wednesday was quoted by the Philippine media as saying the military offensive against Kato and Macapaar’s groups will continue in Mindanao even during Ramadan, Islam’s holiest month beginning next week.
The MILF has repeatedly said that it is not covered by Philippine laws and will not surrender Kato and Macapaar.
The MILF, then under Salamat Hashim, broke away with the MNLF in 1977 and has fought the government for the establishment of a separate Muslim homeland in the southern Philippines. Hashim died of a heart attack in 2003 and Murad Ebrahim, then the MILF military chief, had been appointed to take over as the new chieftain of the rebel group. (Mindanao Examiner)
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