Muslim leaders propose release of MNLF’s Misuari
text EDD K. USMAN

Muslim civil society leaders are calling for the release of Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) Chairman Nur Misuari from his five-year detention as part of a 10-point proposal to finally achieve peace in Mindanao.

After a day-long conference organized by the Philippine Council for Islam and Democracy (PCID) last Friday to assess the accomplishments of the 1996 Final Peace Agreement (FPA), Muslim leaders drafted a 10-point Plan for Achieving Peace in Mindanao.

Among those who participated in the conference were PCID lead convenor Amina Rasul, Maj. Tarahuddin Ampatuan of the National Security Council, Yusuf Ledesma of Balik-Islam. Other groups represented during the conference included Muslim and Christian speakers from government, the MNLF, non-government organizations and professionals.

In drafting the 10-point proposal for achieving peace, the conference agreed that benefits of the government’s peace treaty with the MNLF were not being felt on the ground. Conference participants also lamented the continuing violations of the Muslims’ human rights and called for the "internationalization" of the Bangsa Moro issue which at present is only taken up by the Organization of the Islamic Conference.

The 10-point proposal, which the PCID plans to present to Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr., includes the following recommendations:

1. The release of Misuari.

2. Government and MNLF must accept the defects of the 1996 FPA and the need to acknowledge major violations during President Estrada’s regime.

3. President Arroyo must work for amendment of Republic Act 9054, the law implementing the FPA.

4. Broad section of civil society must participate.

5. Civil society must be given room to engage.

6. Human rights body for Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao must be created.

7. Need for community empowerment.

8. Internationalization of the Bangsamoro issue.

9. Strengthening of democracy in ARMM.

10. Fostering of climate for reconciliation.

Hatimil Hassan, one of the speakers at the forum, said the MNLF asked the OIC to ensure that Misuari will head the group when the Tripartite Committee is convened in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, later this year to review the peace agreement which turns 10 years old on September 2.

Hassan said the OIC welcomed the MNLF suggestion. The Tripartite Committee is composed of the Philippine government, the MNLF and the OIC, the parties to the 1996 FPA.

The PCID is a think tank composed of Muslim professionals advocating peace and Islam’s compatibility with Western democracy.