KL to host RP-MILF talks

Sat, 21 Jul 2001 | Source: REUTERS

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters): Malaysia will host talks next week between the Philippine government and a separatist rebel group, the state-run Bernama news agency reported on Friday.

A call for the Moro Islamic Liberation Front's (MILF) 12,000 fighters to lay down their firearms will top the agenda when the two sides meet next Tuesday for the second round of talks following a meeting in Libya last month.

But MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu said the rebels, who have fought for 23 years to create an independent Islamic state on the southern island of Mindanao, will hold on to their guns until there is a "permanent, lasting and acceptable solution".

Kabalu said the MILF would press for the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) to help implement a ceasefire which was agreed in Tripoli.

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