COTABATO CITY, Philippines--Leaders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) were tight-lipped on Sunday on the pronouncement of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for nongovernment peace advocates to lead in public discussions on the Mindanao peace process.

Mohaqher Iqbal, MILF chief negotiator, also refused to comment on a possible renegotiation or non-signing of the controversial memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain (MOA-AD) that would hand over parts of Mindanao to the MILF as the Bangsamoro homeland in an autonomous state setup.

The President said she wanted nongovernment organizations to "spearhead" the forming of a public consensus on how to win peace with the MILF.

"We will wait for the official communication from the Philippine government regarding that matter. I cannot just give you comments based on newspaper reports," Iqbal told the Philippine Daily Inquirer (parent company of INQUIRER.net) Sunday.

In a separate interview by phone, Ghadzali Jaafar, MILF's vice chair for political affairs, made the same pronouncement but he added that the MILF Central Committee would discuss the government's option upon receiving an official letter from government negotiators.

"Even the two non-government organizations mentioned to lead in the peace negotiation, I am not familiar with them. I have no idea if they exist here in Mindanao or in Manila," Jaafar said.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita mentioned the two non-government organizations as the Christians-Muslims for Peace and the Philippine Council for Islam and Democracy.

Before the Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order on the Aug. 5, the signing of the MOA-AD in Malaysia was to have paved the way for the resumption of formal peace talks between the government and the MILF.

In another development, Muhammad Ameen, MILF's chief secretariat, reminded senators opposed to the MOA-AD that right at the start of the peace talks in 1997 the negotiation was already extra-constitutional.

"When you talk to rebels, it is understood that you suspend your laws over them or they will not talk to you and let their guns speak," Ameen said in statement posted on their website, www.luwaran.com.

"It is regrettable that still many senators, who are supposed to be national leaders, are ignorant of these models of conflict resolutions around the globe. They showed their biases, prejudices, and hatred in recent days, and ganged up on the MILF and the Moro people as if they are toughies on the streets," he added.