PESANTE BULETIN

December 26, 2010

MILF Hits Stalled Peace Talks with GRP

Los Angeles—The US based EPCC NEWS learned today from Cotabato City that a senior official of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front has expressed his doubt about the resumption of peace talks with the government by January in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, even as he has called for the release of all MILF members in prison.

In in a statement issued Sunday to media sources in the Philippines said that MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal doubted whether that would happen. “Without a facilitator, how would the talks resume?

The government's continued character assassination of the Malaysian facilitator is not doing any good to the peace process,” he said.

“We have requested the Malaysian government to retain Datuk Othman bin Abd’ Razak as facilitator and this still stands. It is not in the MILF’s mind to meet in January if the facilitator issue is not settled,” said Iqbal in a press statement.

Slow Pace of the Peace Talks

The MILF said some members of their organization had become upset over the slow movement of the peace talks. Earlier, President Benigno Aquino’s peace adviser, Teresita Deles, announced the resumption of talks by January 2011.

In 2008, some MILF commanders led by Commander Bravo and Umbra Kato led deadly attacks in North nd Central Mindanao. The attacks killied 60 AFP and civilians, following the aborted signing of peace deal that would give the rebels their own homeland in the south.

The GMA-Supreme Court scrapped the MOA in 2008 that led to the resumption of the fighting.

The attacks prompted the government to suspend peace talks with the MILF and ordered a massive assault. The fighting has affected more than one million people in central Mindanao.

The MILF has been fighting government troops for decades in a bid to establish a self-rule Muslim state in the south of the predominantly Catholic country. Efforts are being made by both sides to revive the talks under the Aquino administration.

Release all MILF Political Prisoners

On Sunday, Iqbal also demanded the release of all their political prisoners, including engineer Eduard Guerra, who was captured by police and military on September 22 at the Davao International Airport while en route to Geneva.

Iqbal said that if the government could release the “Morong 43,” who were tagged by the military as members of the New People’s Army, it could also release MILF political detainees.

“The release is a good confidence-building measure for the Aquino administration, which is steadily losing moral ascendancy in the present talks due to calibrated alibis not to start talk

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The MILF said some members of their organization had become upset over the slow movement of the peace talks. Earlier, President Benigno Aquino’s peace adviser, Teresita Deles, announced the resumption of talks by January 2011.

In 2008, some MILF commanders led by Commander Bravo and Umbra Kato led deadly attacks in North nd Central Mindanao. The attacks killied 60 AFP and civilians, following the aborted signing of peace deal that would give the rebels their own homeland in the south.

The GMA-Supreme Court scrapped the MOA in 2008 that led to the resumption of the fighting.