World | Philippines
Moro rebels not keen on Indonesia mediating talks
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) said it is not keen on having Indonesia mediate talks with the government in the decades-old conflict in Southern Philippines.
- By Gilbert Felongco, Correspondent
- Published: 23:53 December 6, 2008
Manila: The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) said it is not keen on having Indonesia mediate talks with the government in the decades-old conflict in Southern Philippines.
Mohammad Ameen, chairperson of the MILF Secretariat, said the MILF does not want Malaysia to leave its key role in the peace talks.
"We love Indonesia like Malaysia but there is no sensible reason to replace Kuala Lumpur as facilitator of the peace talks," he said.
"It [the change] wastes time, resources, and squanders goodwill," Ameen was quoted by MILF's Luwaran website as saying.
Negotiations to achieve peace in Mindanao entered a hiatus last August after a group, mainly comprised of Christian politicians based in Mindanao, questioned before the Supreme Court the legality of a government decision to enter into an agreement with the MILF concerning areas that Moros have considered as part of their "ancestral domain."
The debacle led to a renewed outbreak of hostilities in Mindanao's central region.
Saddled by the lack of interest from the Philippines government and the MILF to get back on the negotiating table, Malaysia ended its role as third party facilitator of the talks last November and withdrew its remaining peace monitors in the country.
Efforts are underway to get the talks on track.
Negotiations
Hasty proposal
Mohammad Ameen, chairperson of the MILF secretariat, said suggestions by some Filipino politicians, especially former marine general and current senator Rodolfo Biazon, to replace Malaysia with Indonesia as a facilitator of the peace talks "is not a well-thought out proposal but rather a spur of a moment decision."
Ameen recalled that there had been attempts in the past by Indonesia to draw the MILF and the government to the negotiating table, but they had failed.
He said that during the presidency of Abdulrahman Wahid in 1999, the late MILF chairman Salamat Hashim was officially invited to visit Indonesia but this did not happen. Later, the Indonesian president offered to come to Mindanao but it did not materialise.
Ameen said the MILF favours Malaysia in mediating the talks with the government as it has shown itself to be a "very systematic, output oriented and very impartial facilitator."
- G.F.
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