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Moro rebellion tops Arroyo-Blair meet


MANILA, Philippines – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will meeting former British Prime Minister Tony Blair in Malacañang on Monday to discuss a number of issues, particularly seeking the latter’s assistance in pursuing peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). The President would invite Mr. Blair to serve as an international adviser to the long-standing peace talks. Press Secretary Cerge M. Remonde yesterday said the Philippines is counting on Mr. Blair’s experience in peace negotiations with Northern Ireland’s Irish Republican Army, particularly on the issues of territory, and disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR). The government has adopted DDR in its approach to all rebel groups, but this has been rejected by the MILF which is standing pat on reviving a territorial deal that has been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court last October. Mr. Blair served as prime minister from 1997 to 2007. He was invited to speak at the Ateneo MVP Center’s Sesquicentennial Leadership Forum at the Ateneo de Manila University on Monday. Rejection Meanwhile, the MILF on Sunday rejected the government’s idea of tapping Mr. Blair and former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan as international guarantors in the southern peace talks. In a telephone interview, Mohagher Iqbal, MILF chief negotiator, said the international guarantor should be a state or a group of states to ensure that any agreement forged would be implemented. "We have huge respect for these gentlemen, but we don’t go for personalities and I don’t think it fits our concept of international guarantor," he told BusinessWorld. The demand to have guarantors, which is part of the MILF’s five-point declaration, was pushed following the failure of the territory deal last year that sparked hostilities in some parts of Mindanao. Both parties have initialed the document on ancestral domain but the government at the last minute refused to sign the agreement after the Supreme Court intervened due to legal issues. With the ongoing effort to resume the talks, Avelino I. Razon Jr., the presidential adviser on the peace process, said they are eyeing Messrs. Blair and Annan to be advisers and facilitators in the resumption of peace talks. But Mr. Iqbal said the government should clarify the functions and roles of Messrs. Blair and Annan who have gained international credibility in peace negotiations. - Bernardette S. Sto. Domingo and Darwin T. Wee, BusinessWorld
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