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Philippines: Estrada Wants Face-To-Face With Hashim Salamat Of MILF
by Kazi Mahmood for IslamOnline
JAKARTA (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - A chest thumping President Joseph Estrada of the Philippines said yesterday that Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah has committed his support for the immediate rehabilitation of Camp Abubakar and other war-torn areas of Mindanao.
Estrada also revealed that Indonesian President Abdurrhaman Wahid promised that he would convince Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Chairman Hashim Salamat to go back to the negotiating table.
Erap, as Estrada is commonly known in the Philippines, said that he was willing to have a face-to-face meeting with Salamat, an Islamic ulama and popular figure among the Filipino Muslims.
Bolkiah is said to have promised to help the cash strapped Philippines administration rehabilitate Camp Abubakar, the MILF stronghold in Maguindanao which was taken back by the government.
The President, however, did not mention what kind of assistance Brunei would give to the Mindanao government.
One of the conditions imposed by the separatist movement to come back to the negotiation table is the return of the Camp to MILF control guaranteed in written, instead of verbal, agreements.
Press Secretary Ricardo Puno when interviewed, however, disclosed the nature of Bolkiah's commitment as "still under discussion,” the Philippine press reported on Saturday.
Puno, also the presidential spokesman, said that what Estrada received from the Sultanate of Brunei was pure commitment.
"He (Bolkiah) gave some indication that he will be willing to help the President rehabilitate Mindanao," Puno told reporters.
According to Puno, Wahid has already extended his offer to talk to Salamat for a possible consideration of going back to the peace-negotiating table.
“Wahid has offered to try to see what they can do to talk to Salamat about the possible resumption of peace talks with the government," Puno said.
"He told me that as soon as he gets home, he will phone Mr. Salamat, so the two of us could talk in pursuit of peace in Mindanao," Estrada said about Wahid’s offer.
He voiced confidence that talks with Salamat would finally follow through, adding: "I’m ready to hold talks so that we can achieve peace and development in Mindanao, which we have long wished of turning into the food basket of the country."
Estrada said that he wanted a face-to-face, “red tape-free” peace talks with Moro leader Salamat. Estrada said Wahid will do his best to arrange the meeting.
The Philippine President expressed renewed interest in talking peace with the Moros even as he prepared to be grilled in the country's first impeachment trial next month on charges of bribery, corruption, betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the Constitution.
But Wahid is also besieged in Jakarta by street demonstrations demanding his resignation for failing to fix the country's ailing economy and to put an end to bloody separatist and sectarian conflicts.
“I said [to Wahid] that it's better if we [Salamat and I] talk personally so that we can do away with red tape and [so that] the process will be swift,” Estrada said.
He declined to answer whether the government was open to resuming peace negotiations with Salamat, the MILF chair, in a neutral country.
Estrada also gave an account of his administration’s military accomplishments against the MILF in Mindanao in a short meeting with delegates from the Filipino community here.
He has, in the meantime, lauded the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) for their “successful operations against Muslim bandits and other terrorist groups.”
Estrada said he had the distinction of being “the only President'” who ordered a full-scale operation against the separatist group, as he noted that the Armed Forces took about four months to overrun 47 military camps.
Estrada said he was forced to order an all-out war on the rebels “because they continued to build up their camps and dug tunnels,” even while peace negotiations were ongoing.
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