"It is the abiding duty in Islam to overcome all obstacles to peace," Hashim

By Kazi Mahmood, IOL Southeast Asia Correspondent

Kuala Lumpur (IslamOnline.Net) - Head of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Salamat Hashim, said Sunday, June 22, that the front is still positive that peace can be achieved in the country, noting that terrorism was "an anathema to the teachings of Islam."

"It is the abiding duty in Islam to overcome all obstacles that pose as stumbling blocks to peace process aimed at a negotiated settlement of the Mindanao conflict," Hashim said in a statement, a copy of which e-mailed to IslamOnline.net.

Hashim said the call by the President Gloria Arroyo on the MILF to renounce terrorism as a condition for "permanent ceasefire" is not necessary since the MILF is a liberation movement that has repeatedly denounced terror publicly.

“Terrorism is not a means to attain political ends. In our Joint Communiqué of May 6, 2002 with the Government, we agreed to the 'isolation and interdiction of all criminal syndicates' operating in Mindanao,” the statement read.

Responding to the accusations of Arroyo, Hashim said that the MILF has been always preaching that terrorism is "an anathema to the teachings of Islam."

“Consequently, we reject and deny any link with terrorist organizations or activities in this part of the Asian region, particularly in South Philippines, and elsewhere in the World,” added the Muslim leader, who is trying to salvage a shaky peace treaty in the southern Philippines.

President Arroyo Thursday, June 19, ruled out immediate peace talks with the group in the southern Philippines and said they must first cut their ties to "terrorist" groups before her regime would even consider going back to the negotiation table.

Nevertheless, the MILF's military wing informed the press in the Philippines that the MILF is prepared for war at any time and in any circumstances.

Its military commander Murad Haji Ibrahim said in a press statement published by local media in Manila that the MILF now considers attacking any major military targets or bases as a legitimate act in favor of independence.

Murad added that any future response by the MILF will be in regards to the military’s aggression against targets within MILF strongholds.

On Tuesday, June 17, experts told IOL that Manila was the first to violate the peace deal with the MILF in February this year with attacks on its camps in Pikit and was preparing an “Indonesian style” end to the conflict.

The MILF is fighting for an independent Islamic state in Mindanao, in the southern Philippines, but is also pushing for a peace deal that would end secession and bring stability and progress in the area.

It has 12,500 heavily armed and well trained military personnel.

The MILF has constantly inflicted severe casualties and losses to the Philippines military, frustrating politicians in Manila over the hope of a quick military end to the conflict.

IOL said on June 9 that Malaysia was brokering a deal between Manila and the MILF that could end up in the warring factions sitting at the negotiation table as early as July 2003.