Philippines, MILF peace negotiators meet in Malaysia; Arroyo halts offensive in Mindanao

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 23, 2009) – Filipino leader Gloria arroyo has ordered a suspension of military offensive against the country’s largest Muslim rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, as negotiations for the resumption of the collapsed peace talks continue in Malaysia.

Arroyo’s decision came after the military last week said its arsenal is depleting because of the offensives against rebel forces in Mindanao. But Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said the halt in the government offensives will pave the way for the resumption of the stalled peace talks with the MILF.

The military launched the offensives last year after peace talks collapsed. Security officials said more than a thousand rebels were killed in the fighting, but the MILF disputed the report and claimed that mujahideen forces had killed as many as 500 government soldiers.

Manila said it would resume peace talks with the MILF in an effort to forge an agreement that would put an end to decades of bloody fighting in the volatile, but mineral-rich region of Mindanao.

The MILF previously said it would only resume the peace talks if Arroyo honors the Muslim ancestral domain deal that negotiators initially signed in July last year.

Arroyo scrapped the ancestral domain deal after the Supreme Court stopped the formal signing of the accord that would have granted Muslims their own homeland in more than 700 villages across Mindanao.

“The Arroyo government has realized that there is no better way to address the Muslim problem but through peaceful means and not with the barrel of the gun,” Eid Kabalu, a senior MILF leader, told the Mindanao Examiner.

Kabalu said rebel and government peace negotiators led by Mohagher Iqbal and Rafael Seguis are in Malaysia and discussing the possible resumption of the collapsed talks. “The MILF is for peace as we always say. Peace negotiators are in Malaysia and discussing how to resume to the peace talks,” he said.

Kabalu said Malaysia, an influential member of the Organization of Islamic Conference, is helping in the peace process. (Mindanao Examiner)