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Muslim Separatists in Manila Say "Long Way to Go" for Peace Deal
CYBERJAYA, Malaysia, Aug 6 (News Agencies) - The Philippine government and the largest separatist Muslim group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), said Monday that they have not reached any agreement on a peace deal.
The two parties said they were only discussing the mechanics of a ceasefire agreement made in Tripoli last June and that there was a "long way to go" before they could strike a peace accord.
Malaysia's foreign ministry, which is hosting the talks at Cyberjaya - south of Kuala Lumpur, announced earlier that a deal had been struck and that both parties were to sign a statement of intent for peace later on Monday.
Philippines and MILF officials clarified that it was an agreement on the provisions for a ceasefire, and not a statement of intent.
But, the two sides were unable to sign any form of agreement on Monday and talks are due to resume on Tuesday.
The MILF and Manila began a second round of talks at a southern Malaysia state on July 24; but talks were adjourned on July 30 as government negotiators returned to Manila to seek consent.
Talks resumed Monday on the eve of Philippines President Gloria Arroyo's three-day visit to Malaysia.
Manila chief negotiator Jesus Dureza told reporters that the signing has been delayed, but declined to give details.
"It's not a simple task. We have to go into the details because we want a ceasefire mechanic that will work on the ground. We want to stress that this is just the mechanics of the ceasefire, not the final agreement.
"This is just the start of reaching a final agreement ... there will surely be more meetings," he said, adding that there was "a lot of goodwill, trust and sincerity" towards forging a peace initiative by both sides.
MILF chief negotiator Murad Ebrahim also said there was a "long way to go" before a final peace agreement could be reached.
He stated that Monday's planned signing ceremony has to be put off since it involved a "more comprehensive agreement and not a mere ceasefire but a cessation of hostility."
"We are not just after silencing the gun. We have to go further than silencing," he said.
"We have to reach a situation where there will be peace for the people so that's why the details are quite lengthy because it involves some other aspects of security."
Murad, who heads a 25-member delegation, said it was a pure coincidence that Arroyo was visiting Malaysia while the talks were being held and added that there were no plans to meet Arroyo here.
The 12,500-strong MILF resulted from a 1978 splinter of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), which signed a peace treaty with the government in 1995 that sought to end its 24-year separatist rebellion in the southern Philippines.
The MILF and the MNLF reached an agreement last Friday to forge a peace in the impoverished southern Philippines, hopefully ending decades of rifts by both sides. Arroyo and Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad will witness the signing agreement between the two groups on Tuesday, officials said.
Arroyo has welcomed the pact between the two Muslim separatist factions and said she hoped "any agreement with the MILF would be in the context of the (government-MNLF) agreement" forged a few years ago.
The MNLF is the most powerful Muslim group in the southern Philippines, where its founder and chairman, Nur Misuari, heads a Muslim autonomous region that was carved out by virtue of the 1995 peace accord.
A plebiscite seeking to determine whether the electorate wants to join the autonomous region is due to be held in the southern Mindanao on August 14.
Arroyo has praised Malaysia's efforts to forge peace in southern Philippines and called Mahathir her "model of a leader."
She said she chose Malaysia as her first overseas destination since taking office in January to "thank (Mahathir) for helping us attain lasting peace in Mindanao."
The Philippines would also invite Malaysian businessmen to invest in oil palm cultivation in Mindanao, she added.
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