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Philippine Gov't, MILF Sign Peace Agreement
The Philippine government and the rebel Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has signed a peace agreement during the ongoing peace talks in Libya, the government announced Saturday.
The agreement, signed by peace panels from the government and the MILF in Tripoli, Libya, on Friday, was aimed at ending the armed conflict in the southern Philippine island of Mindanao and paving the way for the rehabilitation and development of the conflict areas, the government said in a press statement.
The agreement called for the government and the MILF not only to implement but to "strengthen" the Agreement on the General Cessation of Hostilities signed by the two parties on July 18, l997, the statement said.
The l997 ceasefire accord has virtually been suspended when the military and the MILF forces clashed in several areas in central Mindanao last year, which led to the collapse of peace talks between the government and the 12,500-strong MILF, which has been fighting for an independent Islamic state in Mindanao for more than two decades.
The two parties also agreed to invite representatives of the Organization of Islamic Conference to observe and monitor the implementation of all the agreements between the government and the MILF, including the ceasefire accord, said the statement.
The agreement provides that the MILF "shall determine, lead and manage rehabilitation and development projects in conflict- affected areas except when public funds are involved in which case government procedures and rules will be observed."
Immediately upon the signing of the agreement, the two parties agreed to activate working committees for the purpose of discharging their mandates, particularly the implementation of the agreements signed between the parties, it said.
The Government and the MILF resumed formal peace talks in Tripoli on June 20 after the two parties agreed in Kuala Lumpur on March 24 to re-open peace talks in 90 days.
Since President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo came to power in January, the new government has been pursuing an all-out peace policy in Mindanao, one of the resources-rich but economically backward areas in the country.
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