RP rebels say peace talks need more time
RP rebels say peace talks need more time
CYBERJAYA, Malaysia (Reuters): Philippine government and Moro
rebels said unresolved issues prevented them from signing a
ceasefire in Malaysia as planned on Monday, the eve of a visit by
Philippines President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
"There are still issues to be resolved," Moro Islamic
Liberation Front (MILF) chief negotiator Murad Ebrahim told
reporters in Cyberjaya, the venue for the talks just outside
Kuala Lumpur.
The Malaysian Foreign Ministry, which is hosting the talks,
had earlier said a pact would be signed on Monday.
"There is no fixed schedule in the first place. We are still
discussing. We continue discussions tomorrow," Ebrahim said,
adding he was unsure whether the pact to end nearly 30 years of
rebellion on the southern island of Mindanao would be signed
during Arroyo's visit.
"We have an agreement in principle, we are working out details
of the agreement," Ebrahim said.
His opposite number on the government side said the talks were
complex but both sides were pulling together.
"There is a lot of goodwill, a lot of trust and a lot of
sincerity," Jesus Dureza, Manila's chief negotiator, said.
If MILF does lay down its arms it will mean the only organized
guerrilla movement still fighting in the southern Philippines is
the Abu Sayyaf -- a group currently holding 21 hostages including
two American missionaries.
The ceasefire was agreed by the government and the MILF at
talks in Libya in June, and negotiations resumed in Malaysia late
last month but skirmishes continue.
The Philippine military accused the MILF of killing an army
officer and wounding four others in the Mindanao province of
North Cotabato on Monday.
Colonel Danilo Servando, a spokesman for the military, said in
Zamboanga City 25 MILF guerrillas attacked a contingent of
soldiers leading to a 30-minute gunbattle.
Dureza said talks were now focused on how to monitor any
ceasefire and how to define hostile or provocative acts.
"It's not a simple task. We want a ceasefire that really works on
the ground," Dureza said.
Once the ceasefire is in place the two sides will work towards
a final peace agreement.
A previous ceasefire between the government and MILF had held
from 1997 to 2000, until Arroyo's predecessor, Joseph Estrada,
decided the rebels were consolidating their position and ordered
a fresh offensive.
Last week, the MILF and the Moro National Liberation Front
(MNLF) agreed to reunite, bringing together the two main Muslim
separatist groups in the mostly Roman Catholic country. The two
split in 1978.
The MNLF has already struck a peace deal with the Philippine
government.
In an interview with the Malaysian New Straits Times on
Monday, Arroyo said she did not expect the unification of the
Mindanao rebels to help Manila's efforts to combat the self-
styled Abu Sayyaf.
The Abu Sayyaf, who operate from the small southern island of
Basilan, have made a business out of kidnapping foreigners and
Filipinos.
Arroyo said she was undeterred in the fight against the Abu
Sayyaf after they beheaded 10 villagers last Thursday.
In another development, Arroyo has described Malaysian Prime
Minister Mahathir Mohamad as her "model of a leader" ahead of a
visit here, a report said on Monday.
Arroyo, who will arrive on Tuesday on her first overseas foray
since taking office in January, praised Mahathir's stand against
currency speculators and Malaysia's efforts to forge peace in
southern Philippines, the New Straits Times said.
"He is my model of a leader... my main reason to visit Kuala
Lumpur is to convey my government's gratitude to (Mahathir) for
Malaysia's efforts in promoting peace and development in
Mindanao," she was quoted as telling the newspaper in an
interview.
The Philippines would invite Malaysian businessmen to invest
in oil palm cultivation in Mindanao, she added.
Predominantly-Muslim Malaysia is hosting talks between Manila
and the separatist MILF