MILF doubts gov't can keep vow to UN rights body (tags)
An official of the Muslim secessionist group Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has expressed doubts that the government would be able to keep its promise to a United Nations body to put a stop to the string of killings of local journalists and activists as well as to protect the rights of all Filipinos, even those who express dissent against the state. Khaled Musa, deputy chairman of the MILF committee on information, doubted the government vow, saying the head of the Philippine delegation to the recent conference by United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva, Switzerland, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, �has blood in his hands� with the deaths of a number of members of activist groups in the Philippines. Musa hinted that Ermita may not be serious in making the vow as he has been a key government official during the country�s most darkest periods for those who spoke against the state. He noted that Ermita not only is one of the most influential officials in the present administration, being President Arroyo�s alter-ego, but also had held various key roles during the martial law times under the leadership of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos.
Delay in peace talks deliberate, says MILF (tags)
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the largest Muslim separatist rebel group in the country, accused Manila on Wednesday of delaying the peace talks. Manila is negotiating peace with the MILF, an army of about 12,000 rebels with millions of Muslim supporters. Peace talks were stalled after both sides failed to sign an agreement on the Muslim ancestral domain.
Moro group hits GMA’s ‘timeline’ to end rebellion in Mindanao (tags)
A ranking official of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front-Central Committee has criticized President Arroyo for her recent speech at the local Peace and Security Assembly in Mindanao where she reiterated her 2010 “timeline to end armed rebellion” in the region without specifically stating the current government-MILF peace process as the main component.