June 29, 2000, The Philippine Star, OIC to Muslims: Respect RP laws, sovereignty, by Marichu Villanueva,

June 29, 2000, The Philippine Star, OIC to Muslims: Respect RP laws, sovereignty, by Marichu Villanueva,

 

The Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), the influential 56-member body of Islamic states, has called on Muslims living as minorities to respect the laws and sovereignty of their respective countries.

 

Philippine government representatives attending the OIC foreign ministers' meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia saw the statement as an indication that the Islamic Conference will not support bids for secession of Muslim minorities such as the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

 

It was also seen as an indictment of the extremist group Abu Sayyaf, which has waged a terrorist campaign in Mindanao in the name of Muslim fundamentalism for nearly a decade.

 

The OIC did not refer directly to the MILF or the Abu Sayyaf, but OIC Secretary General Azeddine Laraki, addressing Muslims worldwide, said in a speech before the Islamic Conference, "I would like to call and encourage them to contribute effectively to the progress of the countries they live in and to respect their sovereignty and laws."

 

National Security Adviser Alexander Aguirre, who is representing Manila in the four-day conference in Kuala Lumpur, said that with the MILF's bid for OIC support virtually rejected, the rebel group is left with little option but to "not think anymore of secession."

 

Malacañang has proposed a 30-day extension of President Estrada's June 30 deadline for the conclusion of peace talks between the government and the MILF. The deadline, incidentally, marks President Estrada's first two years in office.

 

Press Undersecretary Mike Toledo said there would be an extension only if the rebels drop their bid for an independent Islamic state and stop launching terrorist attacks.

 

Mr. Estrada gave the MILF until tomorrow to abandon its 22-year armed struggle in exchange for expanded autonomy in Muslim areas in Mindanao.

 

The MILF said it wanted a peaceful solution to the Muslim insurgency but would continue to wage war if peace continued to remain elusive.

 

"I think the political front will hold the great hope to our people and that is because war is the last option of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front," rebel peace negotiator Moner Bajunaid said.

 

The MILF said it wants a peace agreement with the government that has the blessing of the OIC, an MILF commander somewhere in Mindanao told The STAR by telephone.

 

"We want the international community to help us resolve the problem in Mindanao," said Jannati Mimbantas, the brother of the MILF chief negotiator, Abdul Aziz Alim Mimbantas.

 

"Whether there is an OIC intervention or that it would decide not to interfere, we are still hoping for a peaceful resolution to the problem in Mindanao," he said.

 

The MILF was able to get support from four Malaysian opposition parties which urged the OIC to broker peace talks between Manila and the MILF.

 

The OIC mediated the 1996 peace agreement between the administration of Fidel Ramos and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) led by Nur Misuari, who is also governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

 

The MILF sent 20 representatives to Kuala Lumpur to further its cause but was refused an observer status enjoyed by the MNLF. The OIC recognizes the MNLF as the sole representative of Mindanao's Muslim minorities.

 

The MILF, an MNLF breakaway group, sent an information pack to OIC delegates on the situation in Mindanao.

 

"We hope it delivers the message that the Estrada administration of the Manila government has unleashed its war plan on the people," Bajunaid said, claiming that "our women are raped, mosques bombed and even the Koran was used as toilet paper by the Philippine soldiers."

 

Interim agreement not in sight

 

Bajunaid denied Aguirre's claim made Tuesday that the government was nearing an interim peace agreement with the MILF that could extend the June 30 deadline, saying it was "inaccurate."

 

"We are willing to discuss the political package but there must be no conditions attached to it," he said. "We are also not closing our doors to anything including independence. Any final solution must be brought to the people for a referendum." Government chief negotiator Edgardo Batenga is still confident that an agreement could be reached, saying that back channel talks are ongoing.

 

Aguirre said former Labor Secretary Ruben Torres is in Kuala Lumpur conferring on the sidelines with MILF vice chairman for political affairs Ghadzali Jaafar, who leads the MILF delegation.

 

Torres was instrumental in forging the 1996 peace agreement between the Ramos administration and the MNLF.

 

"Their talks have been good and I think their proposal can be a vehicle so that we can have an interim agreement," Aguirre said.

 

The results of talks between Torres and Jaafar have been relayed to Batenga, who, in turn, will discuss them with the MILF's central committee, Aguirre said.

 

The outcome will then be relayed to a Cabinet panel on national security who will review them before making recommendations to the President. But unconfirmed reports said the MILF's central committee, the group decision-making body, has already rejected the proposals.

 

The Cabinet panel will also do the "refinements" on the draft interim agreement with the MILF, Aguirre said. 

 

Gov't to MILF: No more terror attacks

 

If the MILF enters into such an agreement, Toledo said the rebels should no longer launch terrorist attacks.

 

But Philippine National Police chief Director General Panfilo Lacson said they received intelligence reports warning of more rebel bomb attacks.

 

"It is incumbent upon their leadership and it is their responsibility that terrorist attacks should end.

 

Otherwise, they would be responsible for the acts of all their people or subordinates," Toledo said.

 

Last Saturday, six bombs rocked downtown General Santos City, killing a woman and wounding 41 other people. The attacks were blamed on the MILF, an accusation denied by the rebels.

 

Bajunaid said Mr. Estrada's June 30 deadline should be lifted, adding an ongoing military offensive is threatening to scuttle the peace talks.

 

Malacañang refuses to declare a ceasefire, fearing that the rebels might use the time to rebuild its forces.

 

Armed Forces chief Gen. Angelo Reyes claimed that the MILF's strength could reach 28,000 men in three years if the military campaign, which has captured most of the MILF's camps, is halted.

 

"There can be no lasting peace with a large and fanatical armed group like the MILF threatening armed violence anytime at their pleasure," Reyes told the Makati Business Club, a group of businessmen, the other night. -- By Marichu Villanueva, with reports from AFP, AP, Reuters, Edith Regalado, Roel Pareño