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MILF Accepts Manila's Offer to Resume Talks
Philippine President Gloria Arroyo said on her trip to Mindanao Wednesday that the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has accepted the proposal of the government to resume the stalled peace negotiations.
The presidential press release issued here quoted Arroyo as saying in Mindanao that she has received a letter from the MILF leadership saying that it is willing to talk with the government.
On February 20, Arroyo ordered a cease-fire with the MILF in an effort to advance peace talks with the separatist group. Meanwhile, she urged the Muslim rebel group to come back to the negotiating table.
The 13,000-strong MILF has been fighting for more than two decades for an independent Islamic state in Mindanao.
The talks between the government and the MILF collapsed after the military captured almost all the MILF's camps including its headquarters, Camp Abubakar overtaken last July.
Arroyo said even with the upcoming resumption of talks with the MILF, her administration would continue to honor all its commitments to the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) under the l996 peace agreement.
The mentioned peace agreement was signed in 1996 between the then Romas administration and the MNLF, the then biggest Muslim rebel group led by Nur Misuari.
Arroyo said she has also asked Nur Misuari, now chairman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), to be the country's special representative to the Organization of the Islamic conference(OIC).
Arroyo said she was grateful that Misuari has agreed to represent the country in the OIC, hoping that the Islamic countries will continue to support the development not only of the ARMM but of the entire Southern Philippines.
She said Mindanao is ably represented in her government, a proof of her administration's sincere efforts to speed up the development of the vast island.
Arroyo started Wednesday her trip to Mindanao, the fourth trip there since she was sworn into office on January 20, to speed up her administration's peace and development efforts in the second largest island in the country.
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