"The peace agreement of 1996 has not been fully implemented until now," said El-Masry. (Reuters)

MANILA – A five-member team from the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) is evaluating the implementation of a 1996 peace accord between the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the government that could pave the way for a Manila membership in the pan-Muslim body.

"The peace agreement of 1996 has not been fully implemented until now. That is why we're here," Sayed Kassem El-Masry, who heads the 2006 OIC Field Visit in Mindanao, told reporters on Monday, May 22.

"We are here to help implement this peace agreement and to remove the obstacle facing its full implementation."

The Philippine government and the OIC Committee of the Eight (C8) members agreed last year to send a mission to the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) to check the implementation of the 1996 peace accord.

The OIC-brokered agreement was inked to end the armed conflict that gripped the southern Philippine island of Mindanao, Islam's birthplace in this Southeast Asian state and home to most of its Muslims.

The accord stipulated the establishment of ARMM, the integration of MNLF combatants into the military and the police, and the rehabilitation by the government of war-torn areas in Mindanao, among others.

Gestures

El-Masry, an adviser to the OIC secretary, has called for the release of MNLF leader Nur Misuari, now jailed on rebellion charges.

He believes the participation of the MNLF leader in the peace talks would help the process move forward.

The government, however, did not assure the OIC team that Misuari would be released.

"Many well-meaning persons and organizations have been seeking the release of former ARMM governor Nur Misuari, but this is exclusively within the sole prerogative and wisdom of the court trying his case," presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye said in a statement.

He noted that the government had accorded Misuari "all the medical assistance and humanitarian treatment that is possible under the law. The rest is left to the independent judgment of the court."

Misuari has been detained for several years in Laguna province after he was arrested for allegedly leading a revolt against the Arroyo government.

He was allowed to stay in a hospital until recently when the court granted that he stays in his house in Quezon City, within Metro Manila.

OIC Seat

The Philippines is seeking an observer's status in the OIC, in which the MNLF currently sits as an observer.

El-Masry said there is a big chance that the Philippines would be granted an observer's seat if it fully implement the peace agreement.

The agreement's provisions which have yet to be totally put in place would be discussed in Saudi Arabia in July, he added.

Philippine Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said an observer status would hasten the full implementation of the peace accord.

"Our catch-up plan can be better served if we are in the OIC because we can closely coordinate with them."

Blamed

The MNLF secretary general accused the government of failing to carry out promises made in the peace accord.

"When we agreed to abandon our demand for independence and accepted the government's autonomy offer in 1996, the Moro was assured that we can have anything under the sun," Muslimin Sema told Reuters Monday.

"But it was not properly implemented. The law that created the autonomous region for Muslims in the south ignored the key provisions of the peace agreement ... we want the law to be amended," he said.

He stressed that there were at least 10 provisions in the law that did not conform to the peace deal, including allowing Muslims to explore and exploit natural resources, like mines and oil.

The MNLF fought for an independent Islamic state in the south from the late 1960s until the OIC, through Libya, intervened and convinced them in December 1976 to accept autonomy for 13 Muslim provinces, including the western island of Palawan.

"The problem in the south would never be resolved unless the government fully implements the peace agreement to the letter," said Sema, mayor of Cotabato City, the commercial hub of the mainly Muslim provinces on southern Mindanao island.