COTABATO CITY, 29 June 2003 — The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) yesterday said it might allow MILF chairman Salamat Hashim to sit as chief peace negotiator for the rebels in response to a request from Malaysia.
“It is hard to say no to the Malaysian authorities but if presented formally, the MILF central committee will decide to grant it,” said Mohaqher Iqbal, speaking for the MILF’s central committee.
The Malaysian ambassador to the Philippines, Mohamed Taufik, the other day urged Hashim to chair the MILF panel in peace talks that he said could resume “within days” in Kuala Lumpur.
Iqbal said the MILF central committee could decide the issue quickly if it wanted to. “We can do it in a few minutes if necessary,” he said when told that the government was eyeing July 1 as the start of the talks.
MILF spokesperson Eid Kabalu said the rebels were waiting for the official communication from Malaysia requesting Hashim’s participation.
“Once it reaches us, we, meaning the central committee, will decide favorably,” he said.
The MILF had earlier rejected a government demand that Hashim head the MILF negotiating team.
But the Malaysian envoy’s request, although made through the media, got a favorable response as it was “an added step leading to the resumption of talks and eventually the signing of a comprehensive peace deal,” said Kabalu.
In requesting that Hashim lead the panel, Taufik also urged the government to drop the arrest warrants for MILF leaders, especially Hashim.
But President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has turned down the request, saying the law should not be used as a “bargaining chip” in the negotiations.
The government would not desist from upholding the law even with the start of the talks, she said.
Yesterday, the president called on the MILF leadership to stop their followers from carrying out bombing plots if they wanted the peace talks to proceed.
In her weekly radio address, Arroyo reiterated that the government would not drop its guard despite signs it would resume peace talks with the MILF soon.
She cited the alleged recent discovery by the military of a huge cache of explosives and bomb-making materials in an MILF camp.
She also cited the recovery of land mines from an MILF hideout which she said were intended to target civilians.
“I call on the leadership of the MILF about these discoveries: if you know about this, you must put a stop to these activities if you truly want the peace talks to continue,” she said.
The government had earlier filed charges against top MILF officials for a series of bombings and raids on civilians in March and April that claimed dozens of lives.
The bombings and raids prompted the president to suspend peace talks with the MILF in May.
“As we are preparing for peace talks, now is the time for the MILF to cut clean by deed, purge its army of terrorist weapons and engage in principled negotiations shorn of deception,” the president said.
The MILF has insisted that they are not behind the bombings and have charged that the military planted the seized explosives.
