MILF rebels focus sight on peace in Mindanao

MILF chieftain Murad Ebrahim is guarded by rebels as he prepares to meet journalists Monday, September 5, 2011 for a news conference in Maguindanao province in the southern Philippines. Ebrahim says they will pursue the establishment of a Muslim sub-state in Mindanao. (Photo by Romy Elusfa)

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Sept. 5, 2011) – Philippine Muslim rebels on Monday said it would still pursue negotiations with Manila as both sides try to resolve the deadlock in peace talks aimed at ending decades of bloody fighting in the mineral-rich, but strife-torn region of Mindanao.

In a news conference at a rebel base in Maguindanao’s Sultan Kudarat town, Murad Ebrahim, leader of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, said they would not settle for anything less other than the creation of a Muslim sub-state in Mindanao.

Government peace negotiators headed by Marvic Leonen proposed a wider autonomy for some four million Muslims in the southern region, but the MILF flatly rejected the offer.

“We will come up with a proposal on how to move forward,” Ebrahim said. “The negotiation is still on. There is no declaration by either party that the talks had already collapse and it will continue.”

Malaysia, which is brokering the peace talks, is yet to decide on the next round of negotiations after both sides failed to sign any relevant agreement in Kuala Lumpur in August.

But Ebrahim said they will ask Malaysia to help break the deadlock in the talks by sending a facilitator to meet separately with government and rebel peace negotiators to narrow down the “heaven and earth” gap of each respective proposal.

He said the Aquino government should be firm in resolving the Mindanao problem. “They are still using the traditional way of hitting a palliative solution,” Ebrahim said referring to government proposal for a wider autonomy instead of a Muslim sub-state.

“The problem is political in nature. It is true that there are other problems like the peace and order, but they are not the root cause of the problems. So we have to address the root cause of the problem,” Ebrahim said as he cautioned Manila that prolonging the peace negotiations may result to war.

“If the talks would drag longer, many young idealist Muslims who were born during the war and are exposed to violence, may opt the violent way of resolving the Mindanao problem,” he said.

Ebrahim said he told President Benigno Aquino during their meeting last month in Japan that “we have to solve this problem within this generation because the younger generations can be more militant and more inclined to violence because most of the young generation was born during the war and are exposed to war and violence. That is why we insist we fast tract the political solution of the problem that will encourage the next generation to toe the line of the peace process.”

One of Ebrahim’s top commanders, Ameril Umra Kato, has split with the MILF after the failed signing of a Muslim homeland deal in 2008.

The Supreme Court said the accord was unconstitutional and the failed signing triggered a series of deadly attacks led by Kato, who has now formed a new rebel group called Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement. Kato vowed to pursue an independent Muslim state in Mindanao.

Ebrahim said they have not decided yet on Kato’s fate or whether to expel him or not. (Romy Elusfa contributed to this report.)