MILF announces indefinite ceasefire

The separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) declared an indefinite ceasefire in the southern Philippines beginning tomorrow, an MILF spokesman said in a phone and radio interview.
"The suspension of military action will begin on April 3 and will probably (last) until we can conclude a peace accord with the Arroyo administration," said MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu in a teleconference held with reporters in Manila, from an undisclosed base in central Mindanao.
"The truce will be effective until further notice," Kabalu said, adding the truce was signed by MILF military chief Mohammad Murad and was sent to all MILF field commanders.

"This is actually an implementation of the agreement we signed in Kuala Lumpur," Kabalu said, referring to the much-criticised secret agreement forged by representatives of the government and the MILF in Malaysia last week. Meanwhile, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo hinted the MILF has agreed to give up its secessionist stance in Mindanao: "The way they talked to us in Kuala Lumpur, they are willing to talk to us in the context of our territorial integrity."

The peace talks "shall be in the context of (the Philippines') territorial integrity," Arroyo said, hinting the end of the contentious part of the government-MILF talks, and the possibility of attaining a comprehensive peace in Mindanao. When asked what she would give in return to the MILF, Arroyo said, "Development in the MILF camps which are also composed of Muslim communities."

Arroyo would have succeeded in ending Mindanao's two decades of conflict if the MILF finally agrees to autonomy and gives up its call for The government extended the peace initiative to the MILF in 1997, after the MILF refused to recognise the pro-autonomy peace settlement forged by the government with the mainstream Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in 1996.

When deposed president Joseph Estrada was elected in 1998, he scuttled the peace talks, called for an all-out war and military take-over of the MILF camps from 1998 to 2000. He also accused the MILF leaders of masterminding the bombing incidents in Manila in May and in December 2000.
After Estrada's ouster and Arroyo's ascendance to power on January 20, Arroyo immediately declared a unilateral ceasefire in Mindanao. She vowed not to give up the 40 MILF camps, including the sprawling Camp Abubakar in Maguindanao, saying the sites would be used for development for the Muslims.

Arroyo agreed to hold the talks in Kuala Lumpur and in Manila on April 3. They will be brokered by the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) which will be represented by the Malaysian government. Meanwhile, government soldiers have shelled suspected MILF encampments in the strife-torn Maguindanao province, in retaliation for an MILF attack on a temporary army headquarters late on Saturday, the military said in a belated report.