DIGOS CITY, 10 June — Moro Islamic Liberation Front chair Salamat Hashim will not be around when the peace talks between his group and the government resume later this month in Tripoli, Libya.
MILF spokesperson Eid Kabalu said Hashim saw no need to sit as chair of the rebel group’s panel.
“Chair Hashim has trust in the composition of our peace panel because they were carefully selected from among the members of the Central Committee,” Kabalu said.
The MILF Central Committee is composed of some 50 persons, including representatives of Moro and lumad communities from all over Mindanao.
It is where MILF policies are drafted, including its position on the resumption of the peace talks.
Kabalu said that even though Hashim will not be there when the MILF and government panels meet in Libya, he will constantly be updated on developments.
“The same way that we will be providing updates to our people,” Kabalu said.
Contrary to reports that Hashim was out of the country, an MILF source said that he was around providing spiritual guidance to the Bangsa Moro people.
Of the ranking MILF officials, only Al Haj Murad, military chief and chair of the current MILF peace panel, is out of the country.
He is reportedly in Kuala Lumpur where he will be meeting with the government peace panel (not in Jakarta as earlier reported) for preliminary talks before proceeding to Tripoli.
The MILF has been pushing for an independent state for over 15 years.
Muslim professionals said they would continue to push for the establishment of an independent Bangsa Moro state through democratic processes.
Prof. Abu Syed Mansur Lingga of the Ulama Executive Committee said copies of the declaration of independence made by thousands of Moros at a Maguindanao assembly last June 2 will be sent to the government, the Organization of Islamic Conference and the United Nations.
He said this was the second such declaration made by the Bangsa Moro people who insist only secession would resolve the rebellion in the Southern Philippines.
