The influential Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) has urged both the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)) to put their acts together for the good and welfare of the Muslims in Southern Philippines.
In a resolution passed during the 11th summit in Senegal's capital, Dakar from March 13-14, 2008, the OIC has called for the MNLF and MILF to combine their efforts to work together for peace and development of the Bangsamoro people.
“This is the 14th of the 16-item resolutions of this year summit that dealt with the ‘Question of Muslims in Southern Philippines’, specifically on the issue of unity,” says a report posted on the Luwaran.com, the MILF’s official website.
Based on reports from Middle East press, at least 33 heads of state, and nearly 5,500 delegates from 57 member countries and international organizations representing more than 1.3 billion Muslims all over the world, have attended the summit.
They highlighted the summit's significance and hope it will strengthen Muslim unity. The OIC summit also took notes of the ongoing peace negotiations between the Philippine government and the MILF, which it “hopes to arrive at positive outcomes.”
It was learned from Luwaran.com, the MILF sent a three-man delegation, composed of a member of the Front Central Committee, a provincial chairman from Southern Sulu, and a member of the Bangsamoro Development Agency (BDA).
Three factions of the MNLF sent a larger group, composed of ARMM Assemblyman Hatimil Hassan, Mayor Isnaji Alvarez, former Muslim Affairs chief Habib Mujahab, a nephew of Cotabato City Mayor Muslimin Sema and Sharif Zain Jali, spiritual adviser of MNLF chairman Nur Misuari.
“This is the second summit conference of the OIC in Senegal that the MILF sent representatives. The first was on December 9-12, 1990. The MILF sent Mohagher Iqbal, chairman of its information committee, and Sheikh Abdulfatah Delna,” the source said.
It will be recalled that in January this year, MILF Chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim visited the headquarters of the OIC in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and briefed the OIC Secretary General of the progress of the GRP-MILF Peace Talks.
He told the OIC officials that the MILF, in its talks with the government, does not intend to set aside what the MNLF and the Bangsamoro people have achieved, but to complement the GRP-MNLF Final Agreement of September 2, 1996.
“We are willing to fuse the best of the FPA and what we sign with the government,” he also told the OIC officials.
The MILF, which claimed to have two million members, split away from the MNLF in the late 1970, but the former continued to wage war to reclaim the Bangsamoro homeland in Mindanao, the birthplace of Islam in the Philippines.
The peace negotiation with the government has been suspended since December 15, 2007 when the MILF’s panel pulled out of the negotiating table in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to protest the alleged unauthorized insertion made by government negotiators in the draft agreement on territory.
The MILF has been demanding the inclusion of about 1,000 villages in the so-called Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE) without precondition but the government rejected it, stressing the establishment of any entity should only be considered within the ambit of the Constitution.
On the other hand, the MNLF which has been holding an observer status in the pan-Islamic body for three decades now, remains discontented with the implementation of the peace pact citing the government's unfulfilled promises and failure to address the issue on land.
In a resolution passed during the 11th summit in Senegal's capital, Dakar from March 13-14, 2008, the OIC has called for the MNLF and MILF to combine their efforts to work together for peace and development of the Bangsamoro people.
“This is the 14th of the 16-item resolutions of this year summit that dealt with the ‘Question of Muslims in Southern Philippines’, specifically on the issue of unity,” says a report posted on the Luwaran.com, the MILF’s official website.
Based on reports from Middle East press, at least 33 heads of state, and nearly 5,500 delegates from 57 member countries and international organizations representing more than 1.3 billion Muslims all over the world, have attended the summit.
They highlighted the summit's significance and hope it will strengthen Muslim unity. The OIC summit also took notes of the ongoing peace negotiations between the Philippine government and the MILF, which it “hopes to arrive at positive outcomes.”
It was learned from Luwaran.com, the MILF sent a three-man delegation, composed of a member of the Front Central Committee, a provincial chairman from Southern Sulu, and a member of the Bangsamoro Development Agency (BDA).
Three factions of the MNLF sent a larger group, composed of ARMM Assemblyman Hatimil Hassan, Mayor Isnaji Alvarez, former Muslim Affairs chief Habib Mujahab, a nephew of Cotabato City Mayor Muslimin Sema and Sharif Zain Jali, spiritual adviser of MNLF chairman Nur Misuari.
“This is the second summit conference of the OIC in Senegal that the MILF sent representatives. The first was on December 9-12, 1990. The MILF sent Mohagher Iqbal, chairman of its information committee, and Sheikh Abdulfatah Delna,” the source said.
It will be recalled that in January this year, MILF Chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim visited the headquarters of the OIC in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and briefed the OIC Secretary General of the progress of the GRP-MILF Peace Talks.
He told the OIC officials that the MILF, in its talks with the government, does not intend to set aside what the MNLF and the Bangsamoro people have achieved, but to complement the GRP-MNLF Final Agreement of September 2, 1996.
“We are willing to fuse the best of the FPA and what we sign with the government,” he also told the OIC officials.
The MILF, which claimed to have two million members, split away from the MNLF in the late 1970, but the former continued to wage war to reclaim the Bangsamoro homeland in Mindanao, the birthplace of Islam in the Philippines.
The peace negotiation with the government has been suspended since December 15, 2007 when the MILF’s panel pulled out of the negotiating table in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to protest the alleged unauthorized insertion made by government negotiators in the draft agreement on territory.
The MILF has been demanding the inclusion of about 1,000 villages in the so-called Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE) without precondition but the government rejected it, stressing the establishment of any entity should only be considered within the ambit of the Constitution.
On the other hand, the MNLF which has been holding an observer status in the pan-Islamic body for three decades now, remains discontented with the implementation of the peace pact citing the government's unfulfilled promises and failure to address the issue on land.
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