ZAMBOANGA CITY (Zamboanga Journal / 03 May) Peace talks between the Philippine government and the Muslim separatist rebel group Moro Islamic Front (MILF) resumed in Malaysia with both sides hoping to sign a formal agreement on ancestral domain.
The talks, which began Tuesday in Kuala Lumpur, are centered on the ancestral domain, the MILF's demand for territory that will constitute a Muslim homeland. In September, peace negotiators signed several agreements centered on the ancestral domain -- its concept, territories and resources, and how the MILF shall govern these places.
For the rebel group it is the single most important issue in the peace negotiations before it can reach a political settlement. The MILF is fighting the past three decades for the establishment of a Muslim state in the troubled, but mineral-rich region.
Spokesmen on both sides were not immediately available, but the MILF website said rebel leader Mohagher Iqbal and Silvestre Afable Jr., headed the peace talks. Other members of the MILF peace panel are Lanang Ali, Michael Mastura, Bobby Alonto and Musib Buat, while the government group is composed of Rody Rodil, Rodolfo Garcia, Sultan Kudarat governor Pax Mangudadatu and Sylvia Paraguya.
President Gloria Arroyo opened peace talks with the MILF in 2001 in an effort to end decades of bloody fighting in Mindanao and solve one of the world's longest-running Muslim insurgency problems. The negotiators hope to finalize an agreement on the proposed homeland for more than 4 million Muslims in the south, which is also home to more than 9 million Christians and indigenous tribes.
Both sides have earlier agreed on several crucial issues, including the coverage of a proposed ancestral domain in the five Muslim autonomous provinces of Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao. And other areas in Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Sarangani provinces, which have large Muslim communities and indigenous tribes.
Many Arab countries, including the influential Organization of Islamic Conference, Libya, Saudi Arabia and the United States are strongly supporting the peace talks.
President George Bush has offered as much as $30 million in financial assistance to help develop Mindanao should the MILF seal a peace agreement with Manila. The money would be used to help the rebels get back to the mainstream of society.
The MILF previously said it is likely to share sovereign powers with the Arroyo government in Mindanao and that talks are going on to put up the Bangsamoro government.
It said the MILF and government peace negotiators were also discussing on how the Muslims will run the proposed new government, but there were suggestions that to study new formulas based on model countries such as Sudan, Palestine, East Timor, Northern Ireland, and Bougainville.
The results of this proposal will depend entirely on the outcome of the peace negotiations. Once the new Bangsamoro government is finally set up, then the five-province Muslim autonomous region will be dissolved," the MILF said.
The MILF also proposed that the Muslims be given an option to choose in a referendum whether they wanted Mindanao to be an independent state or not.
Many local Muslims said they were supporting the MILF and the proposal to put up the Bangsamoro government, but majority of them wanted an independent Islamic state, similar to Iran.
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