|
MILF Responds To OIC Calls For Negotiated Settlement In Mindanao
by Kazi Mahmood
KUALA LUMPUR, March 8 (IslamOnline) - The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in the Philippines stated on Thursday they have responded to the Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Conference's (OIC) call for a negotiated settlement of the crisis in Mindanao, in a message sent to IslamOnline.
The MILF said it was aware of the statement issued earlier this week by the OIC warning the MILF to take seriously the government of Philippines President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's offer for peace. The OIC statement also said the MILF faced the risk of losing sympathizers from OIC member-states if it did not pursue talks with Arroyo's administration.
The MILF said that in several moments it has manifested its willingness to resume peace talks, and that proof of these efforts rest in the MILF's submission of its own official stand as early as December 8, 2000, on the issue of proposed resumption of peace negotiations.
"While it is true that said position was submitted during the administration of then ousted President [Joseph] Estrada, this stand however, remain[s] valid since it was a product of almost a month-long nationwide consultations between and among MILF members, followers and sympathizers throughout Mindanao. Moreover, the government failed to address issues brought therein." Eid Kabalu, spokesman for the MILF, said.
The truth of the matter, the MILF insisted, is that Arroyo's government has so far made no substantial offer in talks. Nothing new has been officially forwarded to the MILF with the exception of Chairman Dureza's letter dated February 15, 2001, it said.
"Of course they have lot of press statements to this effect, which the MILF believes is part of the government propaganda mileage," the MILF added.
"We had been telling them to produce into writing what they are saying publicly should they want MILF official response. It is unfortunate that these statements are available only for media consumptions," Kabalu noted.
"The much-publicized Suspension of Military Operation (SOMO) could have been considered as an offer for peace, borrowing from the government words itself, however events show that the SOMO is only part of the confidence building process aimed to attract the MILF to go back to the negotiating table," the Press Chief of the MILF said in the e-mail.
More importantly, the government's SOMO is a unilateral action binding only to the Philippine Armed Forces and not to MILF forces, Kabalu explained.
The MILF insist that if the government really desires a more reliable ceasefire agreement, it would be much better if it were a product of bilateral discussions, not just unilateral action.
The MILF views the issue of a ceasefire as secondary, since for it, the resumption of talks is primary.
In the meantime, Dureza's letter is still awaiting its own fate depending on the decision of the MILF Central Committee, at a meeting tentatively set for sometime within this month, Kabalu said.
The MILF insists that they strongly believe the OIC is misinformed regarding actual developments concerning the peace process between the Philippines and the MILF.
|
