Moro rebels resume peace talks with RP<\/p>\n
SULTAN KUDARAT, Philippines (AFP): Moro guerrillas yesterday
\nresumed preliminary peace talks with the government here and
\nagreed to a common agenda for proposed formal negotiations, a
\nlawyer who represents the insurgents in the talks said.<\/p>\n
Technical committees from the government and the Moro Islamic
\nLiberation Front (MILF) met to discuss a cease-fire and to set
\nthe agenda for formal negotiations, lawyer Lanang Ali told
\nreporters.<\/p>\n
The two sides agreed that the formal talks would attempt \"to
\nsolve the Bangsamoro problem,\" Ali said.<\/p>\n
Manila is seeking a political settlement with the MILF, which
\nhas been fighting the government forces in the southern
\nPhilippine island of Mindanao over the past 20 years. The
\nmilitary says the movement, which is fighting for a separate
\nMoslem state, has about 10,000 fighters.<\/p>\n
The MILF is an offshoot of the Moro National Liberation Front,
\nwhich signed a peace treaty with President Fidel Ramos last year
\nto end a 24-years war for secession on behalf of the large Moslem
\nminority in the south.<\/p>\n
The MILF was not part of the agreement.<\/p>\n
Technical committees from both sides last met in this southern
\ntown last month.<\/p>\n
The two sides also agreed yesterday to form a body that would
\nmonitor a proposed cease-fire -- to be composed of nominees from
\na lawyers' association, the Philippine Protestant Lawyers'
\nLeague, and representatives from the Notre Dame University Peace
\nCenter, a Mindanao-based think tank, Ali said.<\/p>\n
The government panel in yesterday's talks was led by a retired
\narmy general Fortunato Abat.<\/p>\n
Chief rebel negotiator Ghazali Jaafar told reporters the MILF
\nlisted nine issues of top priority -- including ancestral domain,
\nlandless and displaced Moslems, the destruction of property and
\nthe rights of war victims, and other human rights issues.<\/p>",
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