Govt, MILF negotiators called to pre-resumption meet in KL

Peace negotiators of the government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) have been called to Malaysia for a pre-resumption meeting, the MILF said Sunday night. The MILF website cited an "unimpeachable source" who said the Malaysian third party facilitator officially notified both parties of the meeting. "The source described the meeting as very crucial to the smooth conduct of the forthcoming resumption of the peace talks, saying the two parties cannot just come to Kuala Lumpur, sit across the negotiating table, and discuss anything without resolving them first in a small group meeting," the MILF said on its website. The MILF said Malaysian third party facilitator Datuk Othman bin Abdulrazak sent "official communication" to lawyer Marvic Leonen and Mohagher Iqbal, respective chairmen of the government and MILF panels. According to the MILF, the meeting aims to discuss matters related to the formal resumption of the GRP-MILF peace talks under the Aquino administration. However, the MILF did not mention when the communication was sent or when the pre-resumption meeting will be held. Meanwhile, the MILF noted presidential peace adviser Teresita Deles is pressing for the adoption of terms of reference (TOR) for the facilitation. The MILF said this was the second time that TOR of facilitation was officially raised. In January last year, former government chief negotiator Rafael Seguis brought up the idea for deliberation. The MILF peace panel countered that Malaysia’s facilitation has been going on for almost nine years and it had achieved so much success. It also questioned the timing of the request of the government panel at the time. No formal decision on the matter was adopted. –VVP, GMANews.TV