MILF rebuffs Arroyo's New-Year greeting

MANILA, Philippines - Accusing her of an inconsistent peace policy, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebuffed President Gloria Arroyo's New Year greeting to the Islamic community. MILF deputy spokesman Khaled Musa said it is hard for Muslims to help the government achieve lasting peace if it cannot honor an agreement like the one on ancestral domain. "How could there be peace when you don't honor agreement?" he said in an article posted on the MILF website. Musa said wishing is the forte of "children and weak minds" but added that honoring an agreement is the exclusive domain of honorable men and women. He called on Arroyo to be "brave enough" to confess to the people and the international community that she cannot deliver anything in the remaining months of her term in office, as far as peace talks are concerned. "This can be her good legacy for speaking up the truth," Musa said. Last August, the MILF's "rogue" commanders led attacks in Mindanao after the Supreme Court blocked the signing of a memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain. The fighting prompted the stalling of peace talks as government shifted its policy from dealing with armed groups to conducting "peace consultations" in the countryside. Amon Jadid, the Islamic New Year, falls on December 29 for this year. It is the first day of Muharram, the first month of the Hijrah calendar. In Islam, the New Year is celebrated not with firecrackers or partying but offering prayers in mosques, tendering modest thanksgiving (kanduli) and other activities devoted to God. Earlier, Musa said Arroyo's Islamic New Year message asked Muslims to support government's resolve "in turning the fragile peace in Muslim Mindanao into a genuine ad lasting one." "More than ever, our countrymen of whatever faith and culture should unite in our continuing search for peace and stability in Mindanao," the message said. Musa said the President's message was sent through the Office of Muslims' Affairs (OMA), now headed by Datu Ali Sangki. Meanwhile, the MILF said the hostile situation continues to foment in various conflict centers in Mindanao the past days and weeks amid armed encounters between government and MILF forces. "Every night, civilians both Christians and Muslims had been leaving their houses in some barangays of Midsayap and Aleosan, Cotabato for fear of being caught in the middle of any sudden and unexpected encounter between government and MILF forces," it said. - GMANews.TV