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Philippine Leader Confirms Gov't-MILF Accord
Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo disclosed Wednesday that the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) recently signed an accord in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to jumpstart stalled peace talks, a TV report said.
The country's biggest TV news channel ABS-CBN quoted Arroyo as saying that in the accord the MILF panel agreed to implement a cease-fire in response to the government's earlier suspension of military operations against the secessionist guerrilla.
The government and the MILF had agreed to hold the talks in a mutually agreeable foreign venue in three months. Arroyo, however, did not identify the venue.
On Tuesday, MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu disclosed that Malaysia will likely host the resumption of peace talks stalled by the previous administration's "all-out war" policy.
The 13,000-member MILF has been fighting more than two decades for an independent Islamic state in the southern island of Mindanao.
Peace talks between the government and the MILF collapsed last year when former President Joseph Estrada ordered an all-out war against the MILF after it failed to meet a deadline set by the government to sign a peace deal.
In February this year, President Arroyo ordered a ceasefire with the Muslim rebel group to pave the way for the resumption of peace talks.
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