Macapagal envoy to Malaysia
for MILF peace talks: report
Posted: 3:14 PM (Manila Time) | Mar. 11, 2003
By P. Parameswaran
Agence France-Presse

PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo would seek Malaysia's help to bring Filipino Muslim separatists to the negotiating table and end escalating violence in the southern Philippines, sources said Tuesday.

"The President will dispatch a special envoy tomorrow (Wednesday) to meet with the acting Malaysian prime minister in a new bid to help end this bloodshed," a highly-placed source told Agence France-Presse.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has been blamed for a deadly airport blast and a series of bombings of power transmission lines as well as for a hostage-taking incident that left two government troops dead, among other violence in the country's troubled south in recent weeks.

Presidential envoy Roberto Romulo is scheduled to hold talks with acting Malaysian premier Abdullah Badawi in Kuala Lumpur Wednesday, the source said, adding that Manila wanted to prod Malaysia to "play a more active role" in the peace process.

The source declined to elaborate on the topic of discussions but pointed out that Romulo, a former foreign minister and a close friend of Abdullah, was carrying a "special note" from Macapagal.

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who is on leave, reportedly gave Macapagal an "open-ended" offer during their talks last month for Kuala Lumpur to host any peace talks between Manila and the MILF, the biggest Filipino Muslim separatist group.

Predominantly-Muslim Malaysia has been acting only as a facilitator in the negotiations so far.

The 12,500-strong MILF has been waging a 25-year-old guerrilla campaign to set up an Islamic state in the southern third of the largely Roman Catholic Philippines.

In a related development, Philippine Foreign Secretary Blas Ople has called for a meeting with Manila-based ambassadors of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) member nations on Thursday, diplomats said.

The objective of the meeting was not immediately available.

Aside from Malaysia, Libya is also involved in talks to lure the MILF to the peace table.

The MILF and Manila signed a peace accord in Kuala Lumpur in 2001 but the agreement was shattered last month when the Philippine military launched a massive offensive against the rebels, which left about 200 people dead, mostly MILF fighters.

The government said it was forced to attack the camp because it was allegedly used by the MILF to shelter terrorists, kidnappers and other lawless elements.

The offensive led to a declaration of an all-out war by MILF chair Hashim Salamat.

The government has filed multiple murder charges against MILF chief Salamat and several other top leaders of the group after investigations revealed that a group member allegedly triggered the Davao airport blast last week that killed 21 people, including the suspected bomber, and wounded more than 150 others.

Warrants of arrests against MILF leader Salamat and his lieutenants have also been issued over a separate bomb attack that killed at least nine people in December.

The MILF has denied the charges.

The group has called for a withdrawal of government troops from previously held rebel areas before any peace talks could be held.

Philippine Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes on Monday said the government was considering tagging the MILF as a terrorist organization but added that this would jeopardize the peace talks.

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