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Indonesia To Play Vital Role In Moro Peace Talks
by Kazi Mahmood
KUALA LUMPUR, June 29 (IslamOnline) - Hashim Salamat, the leader of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), said in an exclusive interview with IslamOnline that Indonesia is expected to play an important role in the peace process currently engaged in the Philippines.
He added that further negotiations will most probably be held in Malaysia, and in Kuala Lumpur, the MILF and the Philippines government are likely to further discuss an agreement signed in Tripoli.
"Since the Philippines government and the MILF has agreed on the shifting venues for these talks, Malaysia, Indonesia and Libya will be the main countries where they will be held," he said.
Salamat and Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid, who is on a five-day visit to Manila, were close classmates during their university days. They studied Islam and Islamic culture at Al-Ahzar University in Egypt.
However, both individuals are at different stages in their political leadership careers. Both are now members of the Muslim ulama, with Salamat turning into a much respected leader of Muslims in Mindanao, and while the Philippines army, due to his strength and military vision, fears him, Wahid is slowly losing political ground in Jakarta.
Talking fondly of Wahid, Salamat told IslamOnline that he hoped Wahid survives his political debacles and continues to lead the Indonesian nation.
When asked how much he was still a "buddy" to the embattled Wahid, he said that Wahid is his friend and that "I pray that he survives the impeachment. He is doing all he can to assist us in this peace process."
Meanwhile, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said she expressed her gratitude to Wahid, citing his government's efforts in mediating during the government's peace negotiations with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). An agreement was signed with the Muslim secessionist group in 1996.
"Many welcomed this agreement and Indonesia contributed to its success so we are grateful to Indonesia for its concerns," said Macapagal.
In current talks between the MILF and the Philippines government, the Indonesian president is playing an important role, Arroyo said. A ceasefire agreement was signed last week that temporarily ended hostilities between the soldiers and the MILF fighters.
After the ongoing round of talks in Tripoli, government and MILF panels will move to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia and to Jakarta, Indonesia.
The Moro people have led the most ferocious and longest war in history, stretching over a 400-year period and confronted with different invading forces.
Their troubles started with the invasion of conquistadors from Spain who had extreme difficulties in subduing Moro land within its rule, and finally acquiesced to the fact that the Bangsamoro people could not be brought under their wing.
It took both the British and Dutch to break the strength of the Moro people with the defeat of the Sulu Sultanate. The Japanese invasion during World War II, and U.S. intervention in the Philippines under President Ferdinand Marcos met with stiff resistance from the Moro people.
The Bangsamoro people, Hashim Salamat told IslamOnline, have suffered enough and that their main objective is to reach a peace agreement with the Philippines government. He, however, never dismissed independence as the final objective of the MILF, backed by the Moro people, whether they are from the MNLF or the Abu Sayyaf.
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