Philippine officials, rebel leader see peace deal

Philippine officials, rebel leader see peace deal

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines (Reuter): Philippine government and Moslem rebel negotiators ended two days of talks yesterday optimistic a permanent solution to the 22-year separatist war on Mindanao island was close.

"We have scored another point for peace," chief government negotiator Manuel Yan said at the closing ceremony of talks with representatives of the separatist Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

"The light of day is becoming even brighter," MNLF chairman Nur Misuari said. "We are exuding optimism after this meeting." Misuari told a news conference later he looked forward to the resumption of talks, tentatively planned for later this month, in the Indonesian capital Jakarta, where the first round of negotiations were held last November.

Although several issues remain unresolved, some consensus was reached on education and economic affairs in a proposed autonomous government for Moslems in the south of the island, officials said.

Misuari said he hoped a provisional government would be formed shortly after a peace agreement was signed, possibly later this year.

But Congressman Eduardo Ermita, a member of the government panel, said the issue of a provisional government was a contentious point not thoroughly discussed at the meeting in Zamboanga, 865 km (535 miles) south of Manila.

Misuari said earlier that he had received assurances from Indonesia and Malaysia that they would invest in the Philippines' southern islands once the Moslem separatist rebellion was over.

"Should there be a consolidation of peace, there will be a deluge of investments from the Middle East and other parts of the Islamic world," he said in his remarks at the resumption of

"Without peace, it is impossible to attract foreign investments," said Misuari, who has lived largely in exile in the Middle East since the rebellion broke out in 1972.

He said the MNLF would like to give peace a "maximum chance."

"It's a kind of inhumanity to impose another war on the people," he said.

Chief government negotiator Manuel Yan said he hoped both sides would reach agreement on a permanent cease-fire in the talks in Zamboanga, a largely Christian city 865 kilometers south of Manila.

The talks opened in a treehouse on a nearby beach resort but were transferred yesterday to a hotel in downtown Zamboanga.

Government and MNLF panels are reviewing reports of five committees assigned to study aspects of a proposed autonomy for Moslems in the south. They include defense and security, education, judiciary, economy and administration.

Mohammed Moksin, deputy secretary-general of the 51-member Organization of the Islamic Conference, praised President Fidel Ramos for his efforts in finding a solution to the Moslem problem. The organization is mediating the talks.

"What we see is the urgent desire on both sides to find accommodation of each other's quest for peace," he said.

More than 50,000 people died at the height of the separatist war in the 1970s. Fighting has ebbed in recent years after both sides forged a ceasefire agreement.