AQUINO III, MURAD OF MILF HELD TALKS IN TOKYO FOR TWO HOURS (tags)
The Alliance News (AN) learned today through media reports from Manila that President Benigno Aquino III left the country unannounced on Thursday night to hold unprecedented talks with a Muslim rebel leader in Japan. According to AN, Mr. Aquino met for two hours with Murad Ebrahim, chair of the secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), in a hotel near the Narita airport in Tokyo on Thursday evening, the first time a Philippine president has met face-to-face with a leader of the rebel group since on-and-off peace talks started 14 years ago. The MILF called Mr. Aquino?s effort a ?grand gesture? that gave ?a tremendous boost to the peace process.? Ghadzali Jaafar, the MILF political affairs chief, said it was ?a fruitful meeting.?
MILF, SUARA BANGSA MORO SCOFFED AT AMPATUAN CLAIMS (tags)
The AJLPP NEWS sources learned today that The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Suara Bangsamoro,scoffed at the claim of Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. that MILF rebels were behind the Nov. 23 mass murder in Maguindanao. MILF vice chair for political affairs Ghadzali Jaafar said Ampatuan’s claim was “absurd” and that “even a small kid would not believe it.” MILF spokesperson Eid Kabalu said it was “a mediocre attempt to divert the issue.” “Who would believe that?” Kabalu said.
Absurd,’ says MILF on Ampatuan claim that MILF behind the Maguindanao massacre (tags)
The Alliance-Philippines or the AJLPP learned today from news sources that the Moro Islamic Liberation Front branded as “absurd” claims by the prime suspect in the massacre in Maguindanao province that the Muslim rebel group was behind the killings. "This is absurd, even a small kid would not believe it," said MILF vice chairman for political affairs Ghadzali Jaafar.
Tensions in Mindanao seen to rise as peacekeepers pull out (tags)
Malaysian peacekeepers began a phased withdrawal from the Philippines' troubled south on Saturday, raising worries that decades of Muslim rebellion in the mainly Catholic nation may resume. Twenty-eight of 41 Malaysian soldiers and police officers were picked up by two army transport planes at three points on the southern island of Mindanao and flown to a base in the Malaysian province of Sabah. The remnants of the 60-member International Monitoring Team (IMT), including 10 soldiers from Brunei, eight from Libya and a Japanese development worker, were expected to pack their bags and go home by the end of August.
Canada, Sweden offer to help monitor RP-MILF ceasefire (tags)
US northern neighbor, Canada has offered to help monitor the implementation of the ceasefire agreement between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).