Gov’t, MNLF rushing 1996 peace pact review for OIC meet

DAVAO CITY, Philippines — The government and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) have doubled efforts in reviewing the 1996 peace agreement, the results of which will be submitted to the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) in another tripartite meeting in May, an official statement said. The two parties’ joint working group have started the review after their Istanbul, Turkey meeting in mid-February, which the OIC also hosted. The statement added that based on the communiqué released after the latest meeting, the two sides also "cited the need for working groups to study the positions of the government and MNLF in order to arrive at commonalities by examining the provisions of the 1996 Final Peace Agreement which were not fully implemented and come up with mutually acceptable solutions." The peace agreement was signed in Jakarta, Indonesia on Sept. 2, 1996. "The meeting underscored the cardinal importance of social economic development but outlined that such development is conditional on the creation of a climate of peace and security through confidence-building measures that include rehabilitation, relief, and reconstruction and attending to the problems of internally displaced people," the communiqué said. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, OIC secretary-general, said he is hoping that the two sides will submit a "consolidated and unified" report on resolving problematic issues in the peace agreement. The Islamic organization sits as the mediator in the peace talks that led to the signing of the agreement during the Ramos administration. Discussions on the implementation of the peace agreement were also held during the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers in Baku, Azerbaijan in 2006 and in Islamabad, Pakistan in 2007. "We are working hard and according to time lines to complete the review through joint working groups so we can present before the OIC, a comprehensive assessment of the implementation of the 1996 peace agreement," said Undersecretary Nabil A. Tan, deputy presidential adviser on the peace process. Earlier, Nur Misuari, chairman of the rebel group during the signing of the agreement, has criticized the government for its failure to comply with the provisions of the agreement particularly on projects that were supposed to be implemented in rebel strongholds. Mr. Misuari’s group was the main Moro rebel organization until the mid-1970s when the late Ustadz Salamat Hashim led a breakaway group and eventually formed the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, now the larger group negotiating for a peace with the government. — Carmelito Q. Francisco, BusinessWorld