MILF urges OIC to send development team to Mindanao

The secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) said that the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) should help the millions of displaced Moros by sending a development team to war-torn areas in the southern Philippines. In a statement posted on the group's website Tuesday, MILF political affairs vice chair Ghadzali Jaafar said the team would cater to the 9 million Moros displaced in marginalized areas due to the group's ongoing conflict with the government. The OIC is an association of some 57 Islamic states "promoting Muslim solidarity in economic, social, and political affairs." “Please send the team immediately, so that the difficulties faced by our people will ease a little while we strive to make it better and better," Jaafar said. "The OIC, as a body, is a little late in providing assistance to the people in Mindanao, while non-Muslim countries are already here in Mindanao," he said, referring to humanitarian aid groups from the US, Malaysia, Japan, Australia, United Kingdom, Canada, Turkey, and the European Union. The MILF leader also criticized the "Manila government" for its supposed oppressive and exploitative policies, as well as the lack of assistance from other Muslim sates and institutions. GMANews.TV tried to reach Malacañang deputy spokesperson Gary Olivar for comment, but he could not be reached as of posting time. Last May, leaders of the MILF and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) met with the OIC leaders in Tajikistan, on the sidelines of the 37th Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers. "The chairmen of the two fronts, Prof. Nur Misuari, chairman of MNLF, and Haj Murad Ibrahim, chairman of MILF, have agreed to enhance the cooperation and coordination among them, and to create a mechanism for that purpose with the technical help from the OIC General Secretariat. A second meeting between them will be held in the near future to lay down the details of that mechanism," the OIC said. The MNLF is another secessionist group, fighting for an autonomous state in Mindanao. — with Sophia Dedace/LBG/VS, GMANews.TV