Peace talks between government, MILF deadlock

Peace talks between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Government of Republic of the Philippines (GRP) were at an impasse as both sides failed to agree on crucial ancestral land rights, officials said yesterday.

Presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye said the government’s two-day meeting with the MILF in Kuala Lumpur failed to resolve the issue of ancestral domain, or which areas in the southern region of Mindanao would be included in an expanded autonomous Muslim region.

“There is a continuing impasse on territorial issues,” he said, adding that government negotiators will still have to consult with senior cabinet members.

Eid Kabalu, MILF spokesman, said the government panel offered 600 villages to be added to the existing Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), but his group wanted the inclusion of more than 1,000 additional villages.

The ARMM currently covers five predominantly Muslim provinces and the Islamic city of Marawi.

“Both panels failed to reach a formula on how they can arrive in addressing the issue on territory that will be included in the area of Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao,” Kabalu said.

“The issue on territory is the most crucial in the negotiation,” he added. “We hope that it will be resolved soon.”

The rebels accused President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo of lacking sincerity to end the decades-old conflict in the south.

“GMA has no political will,” Mohaqher Iqbal, the rebels’ chief negotiator, said in a mobile text message. GMA refers to the initials of Arroyo.“The Philippine government has no new proposal on the issue of territory,” Iqbal said.

But the Philippine government said the peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) remained on track, describing the impasse as a temporary setback.

“There is a continuing impasse on the territorial issue, but the talks did not break down as reported,” Ignacio Bunye, a spokesman of President Arroyo, said in a statement.

“I just received a call from Chairman Silvestre Afable of the government panel in peace talks with the MILF.

He acknowledges the difficulties involved but is confident these can be surmounted.”Before talks were stalled in May, the two sides were hopeful that a deal on a Muslim homeland in the south could be signed in September before the start of Ramadan, Islam’s holy month.

Iqbal said he expected the two sides would be able to reach some agreements to settle the territorial issue, which had caused officials from both sides to backtrack on their earlier predictions that a peace deal could be signed this year. (GULF TIMES)