RP Muslims see peace hopes in rebel summit

RP Muslims see peace hopes in rebel summit

Mentang Sagpa didn't mind the scorching sun or the cold, rainy nights as he debated for three days with fellow Muslims over the future of their homeland in the southern Philippines.

As the largest Islamic rebel group in the mainly Catholic country ended a rare summit to canvass the sentiments of Muslims on the progress of peace talks, Sagpa headed home to his family with hopes of an end to the three-decade conflict.

"We can almost feel, smell and taste freedom," he said, carrying two heavy bags along a muddy track as an estimated 500,000 members and supporters of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) began leaving a main guerrilla base.

"We wanted an independent Muslim nation but we could settle for a self-governed bangsamoro homeland if that would stop the fighting. I don't want my children and my children's children to end up like me. I want them to go to school."

Muslim people in the southern island of Mindanao call themselves bangsamoro.

The optimism about a lasting peace was infectious, shared by government officials and analysts observing the MILF event.

"You can feel the sincerity of the process," said Silvestre Afable Jr., the government's chief peace negotiator.

Both sides have hailed the most recent set of talks as a breakthrough toward ending a separatist insurgency that has killed 120,000 people, held back Mindanao and hurt overall investor confidence in the Philippines.

Syed Abhoud Lingga, head of the Mindanao-based Institute of Bangsamoro Studies, cautioned against early celebrations because the government and rebels had yet to reach a formal agreement.

But the meeting, he said, was a personal victory for Ebrahim Murad, a guerrilla leader who rose to chairman in 2003 with the death of MILF founder Salamat Hashim, a revered Islamic scholar.

"It was politically significant for Murad," Lingga said. "In such a short period, he was able to consolidate his supporters and help the MILF gain the legitimacy to represent the bangsamoro people in peace negotiations with the government."

In 1978, the Cairo-educated Salamat split from the secular Moro National Liberation Front and led an Islamist faction that was renamed the MILF in 1984. The Moro National Liberation Front signed a peace deal in 1996.

Government officials said they have seen a more cooperative and accommodating MILF under Murad, a factor that helped cut the level of violence in the south and speed up the peace process.

Still, there are several obstacles as the talks, brokered by Malaysia since March 2001, move to the next level.

"In any political negotiations, there are spoilers," said Teresita Deles, the presidential adviser on the peace process.

Threats include the presence of foreign militants in some MILF strongholds and the rising political temperature before August elections in an autonomous Muslim region of Mindanao. -- Reuters