ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Apr. 28, 2011) – Philippine government peace negotiators ended talks with the country’s largest Muslim rebel group Moro Islamic Liberation Front on Thursday, but no significant accords had been reached by both sides in Malaysia.
It was the 21st rounds of peace talks between the two peace panels since negotiations for an end to decades-old insurgency problems in Mindanao Island where the rebels are fighting for self-determination.
Mohagher Iqbal, the MILF chief peace negotiators, said both sides agreed to continue the talks later in June in Malaysia, which is brokering the negotiations. The MILF earlier asked Manila to release its political prisoners, while the Aquino government expressed concern over renegade rebel leaders Ameril Umra Kato and Abdullah Macapaar who are opposed to the peace talks.
Both commanders had previously led rebel forces in attacking civilian targets in Mindanao after the Supreme Court rejected an earlier agreement by peace negotiators on Muslim ancestral domain, saying, the accord was unconstitutional. The 2008 attack had left dozens of people dead and wounded. (Mindanao Examiner)
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