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.