Key leaders of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and top officials of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) left to Saudi Arabia to review the September 1996 peace agreement signed with the Philippine government under the auspices of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC).
The meeting set from November 10 to 12 in Jeddah is attended by detained MNLF chairman Nur Misuari himself and ARMM Governor Zaldy Ampatuan, Maguindanao Governor Datu Andal Ampatuan, as well as Undersecretary Nabil Tan, who will lead the Philippine government delegation.
According to report, about 50 other MNLF leaders like Habib Sharif Zain Jali, Ustadz Abdulbaki Abubakar, and Abdulbaset Usman, accompanied Misuari. It also said the detained MNLF leader was earlier allowed by the court to travel to Saudi for the said meeting in preparation for another tripartite meeting.
It is not clear whether the Saudi Arabian government has already given the sovereign guarantee for Misuari's return to the Philippines. But a source said that the meeting in Jeddah is just an opening program, where speeches are to be made. The actual review would most probably take place either in Manila or Jakarta.
The government said the review would include the extent of the agreement's implementation under the expanded ARMM law even as the MNLF and other critics claimed there were disparities in the interpretation of the agreement between the MNLF and the Philippine government.
OIC officials had earlier complained about the slow implementation of the 1996 agreement and the MNLF has accused the government of not fulfilling its end of the deal.
However, the government insisted that it did its part of the agreement by appointing several Muslims in key positions such as in the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and Court of Appeals. Some Shariah courts had also been established as part of the agreement.
The government also said the Southern Philippines Development Authority (SPDA) had also been revived as part of the agreement. The SPDA, which was created during the Ramos administration, is under the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process.
The meeting set from November 10 to 12 in Jeddah is attended by detained MNLF chairman Nur Misuari himself and ARMM Governor Zaldy Ampatuan, Maguindanao Governor Datu Andal Ampatuan, as well as Undersecretary Nabil Tan, who will lead the Philippine government delegation.
According to report, about 50 other MNLF leaders like Habib Sharif Zain Jali, Ustadz Abdulbaki Abubakar, and Abdulbaset Usman, accompanied Misuari. It also said the detained MNLF leader was earlier allowed by the court to travel to Saudi for the said meeting in preparation for another tripartite meeting.
It is not clear whether the Saudi Arabian government has already given the sovereign guarantee for Misuari's return to the Philippines. But a source said that the meeting in Jeddah is just an opening program, where speeches are to be made. The actual review would most probably take place either in Manila or Jakarta.
The government said the review would include the extent of the agreement's implementation under the expanded ARMM law even as the MNLF and other critics claimed there were disparities in the interpretation of the agreement between the MNLF and the Philippine government.
OIC officials had earlier complained about the slow implementation of the 1996 agreement and the MNLF has accused the government of not fulfilling its end of the deal.
However, the government insisted that it did its part of the agreement by appointing several Muslims in key positions such as in the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and Court of Appeals. Some Shariah courts had also been established as part of the agreement.
The government also said the Southern Philippines Development Authority (SPDA) had also been revived as part of the agreement. The SPDA, which was created during the Ramos administration, is under the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process.
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