GOV'T-REBEL CEASEFIRE
MILF welcomes Libyans as new peacekeepers
By Edwin Fernandez, Jeoffrey Maitem
Mindanao Bureau
First Posted 12:13:00 05/12/2008
COTABATO CITY, Philippines--The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has welcomed Libya's intention to take the place of Malaysians as lead peacekeepers in the southern Philippines.
But Ghazali Jaafar, MILF vice chairman for political affairs, said on Monday the matter should be discussed and agreed upon bilaterally by both the government and the MILF.
Dr. Salem Adam, special envoy to Mindanao of the Gadaffi International Charity and Development Foundation, said that Libya, through the foundation, would be ready to assume the role to be vacated by Malaysia should it decide to finally pull out of the peace process mediation.
Malaysia’s defense minister earlier said his government was not abandoning the peace process. On Saturday, 19 of the 40 Malaysian peace monitors left Mindanao, leaving behind the International Monitoring Team with about 21 Malaysian military personnel to continue its mission until August 2008.
Adam said the Philippine government sought Libya's assistance to take the lead role of peacekeeping mission in southern Philippines.
The foundation, headed by Saiful Gaddafi, son of Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi, is Libya's peace and development arm to Muslim-dominated communities in Mindanao.
Jaafar said any move from any foreign government would be most welcome if this were to benefit the Bangsamoro people.
"I am still hopeful the talks would continue, we are not losing hope even if others appear to be," Jaafar said.
The peace process has been put on hold in December after disagreements over the draft memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain issue.
The MILF blamed the government for the impasse, claiming the government did not honor its commitment.
Malacañang has announced any agreement with the MILF on the issue of territory must conform with the Constitution, which would require the holding of a plebscite to decide on the establishment of the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity -- a move strongly opposed by the MILF.
The proposed BJE covers provinces and cities within the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Eid Kabalu, speaking for the MILF, said MILF fighters would not start armed confrontation in Mindanao despite the withdrawal of some Malaysian peace observers.
"We are still committed to the peaceful resolution of the problem," he told the Philippine Daily Inquirer (parent company of INQUIRER.net). "We are tired of war and we have been enjoying peace for the past few years, we want it continued."
"But if we are provoked, that's another story," Kabalu warned.
Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza has called for calm and sobriety following the start of the phased pull-out of the Malaysian contingent in the IMT.
"These times require sober calls for calm and restraint on the part of everybody and for all of us not to feed on the public's apprehensions. Statements that stoke the anxieties and fears of our people do not serve the interest of peace," Romeo Montenegro, Dureza's spokesperson, said in a statement.
"With the local peace stakeholders demonstrating greater determination in sustaining the peace, the downsizing of Malaysian peace monitors will not result in a breakdown in ceasefire mechanism," he added.
"Even with the pullout, the government continues to be committed to uphold the primacy of the peace process. To squander the gains in the peace negotiations thus far achieved is definitely not an option for the government," Montenegro said.
"We are confident that the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, in spite of some difficulties we are now facing with, shares the same views," he noted.
The MILF, however, has accused the Arroyo administration of deliberately reverting to war after it consistently refused to honor and abide by the 49 consensus points on ancestral domain, which both panels patiently and "jointly crafted, agreed and signed" in December 2004.
"President Arroyo is reversing her policy from all-out peace policy to all-out war," said Muhammad Ameen, chairperson of the MILF Secretariat.
"This is a tragic decision. She has done an irreversible damage to the pacific ways of resolving conflicts, which the two Parties, the Malaysian government, Libya, Brunei, and Japan, and other members of the international community, have nurtured for years. She will be hounded by her conscience, if she has one, until she dies, for abandoning the peace talks, in favor of a bloodbath in Mindanao," Ameen added.
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