ZAMBOANGA, Philippines, Feb 23 (AFP) - Philippine government and Muslim negotiators agreed Wednesday to resume stalled peace talks next month as President Joseph Estrada said he would consider an offer by Indonesia to mediate.
The agreement to resume the talks renewed hopes for an end to the war of independence, a major obstacle to the economic development of the natural resources-rich but volatile southern region of Mindanao.
The MILF pulled out of a second round of formal talks scheduled to resume on February 21 after the army launched an assault on a key mujahideen base, Camp Omar al Farouk, in the province of Maguindanao. Troops captured the base on Monday after a week of fierce fighting that left at least 44 Muslims and four soldiers and militiamen dead.
The formal talks began this year after three years of exploratory discussions.
Chief government negotiator Edgardo Batenga and his counterpart from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Aleem Abdulaziz Mimbantas, said in a joint communique that they agreed to resume the talks on March 1 and 2. The negotiations will be held in the southern city of Cotabato.
The communiqué also called for a ceasefire starting at 6 p.m. on February 28 covering the towns of Carmen, Sharif Aguak, Datu Piang, Talayan, Kabuntalan, Ampatuan and Isulan in the provinces of North Cotabato, Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat.
Both sides also agreed that military and mujahideen units be strictly monitored to avoid violations of the ceasefire and that a quick response team be strengthened to prevent future skirmishes from getting out of control.
President Joseph Estrada said Wednesday he was willing to consider an offer by Indondesian President Abdurrahman Wahid to mediate the negotiations with the MILF. Asked by reporters about an offer by Wahid for Indonesia to broker the talks, Estrada said: "Why not? We are for peace."
Wahid had made the offer during a visit to Manila in November. He had earlier intended to visit the MILF's main jungle headquarters in the south but the trip was canceled.
"I want the peace talks to continue because the Muslims are also our brothers," said Estrada, who has given the MILF until June to sign a peace accord.
Under Indonesia's leadership, the Organization of the Islamic Conference, a forum of Muslim states, played a key role in brokering a peace treaty between Manila and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in 1996.
The peace accord ended the MNLF's 24-year armed struggle in favor of autonomy covering four Muslim-populated provinces in Mindanao, where waves of Christian migration pushed the Muslim minority to the margins and fuelled the fight for independence.
Left out in the 1996 peace agreement, the MILF demanded separate peace negotiations.
Meanwhile, armed forces chief General Angelo Reyes said in Manila on Wednesday that troops would remain on alert and maintain their presence on the captured mujahideen base to prevent the Muslim fighters from returning.
"We have learned our lessons. When you conduct operations and then withdraw, it sends the wrong signal that we are not serious. But now, we are serious," he told reporters. Reyes warned the military would take swift action if the MILF continues to harass government forces.
He also said the military was investigating intelligence reports that five Egyptian nationals were seen inside Camp Omar last February 12.
The five were reportedly meeting MILF field commanders, but the extent of their involvement is not yet clear, Reyes added.
MILF fighters, numbering about 15,000 with an estimated 9,000 firearms, are believed to be receiving arms shipments from groups in the Middle East, according to the military.
