MILF to form peace panel for talks with govt

The secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) said it would form a peace panel as soon as the government completes its lineup of peace negotiators. “As soon as the government completes its panel, we can come out very shortly with our own panel...As soon as the government completes their line-up, we can come up very shortly with our line-up," said Mohagher Iqbal, the chair of the MILF committee on information. Iqbal, who previously chaired the MILF panel, said their organization is considering people for the position of chief negotiator. “We have a shortlist but I not yet privileged to disclose it," Iqbal said. Both the MILF and the government have disbanded its peace panel at the later part of the administration of President Arroyo. The new administration has named those who will compose its panel, except for one member. Iqbal said “at this point in time, the MILF thinks that the government should be the one who should put into place its peace panel." President Benigno Simeon Aquino III said in his first State of the Nation Address in July that he is hoping that the peace talks with the MILF would resume after the month-long Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting that began on August 9 and will end on September 11. Iqbal said, “If they are not going to initiate changes on the existing mechanisms in place, that may push through. But if they do that, change the facilitating country and the facilitator, that will probably be a problem." The Aquino administration has hinted at plans to tap Indonesia as the new facilitator of the talks. The Malaysian government has been brokering the peace talks between the MILF and government since the late 1990s. “Malaysia has the institutional memory and then we are seeing no reason why Malaysia should be replaced," said Iqbal. He added that if there were problems in the talks in the past, these were not due to Malaysia. When asked if the MILF was opposed to Indonesia as the facilitator of the talks, Iqbal said, “Its not a question of opposition. If Malaysia is there, it has institutional memory and its facilitation has been excellent, why replace it?." Iqbal assured that there are no problems in reconstituting the MILF peace panel and resuming peace talks with the government. He said the talks can begin after both the government and the MILF have informed the broker country that their respective peace panels are complete. “Then the facilitating country can schedule a talk, whether it is formal, or exploratory or special meeting, that the way it how it goes," said Iqbal. – VVP, GMANews.TV