Muslim rebels reject Manila's disarmament proposal
Source: Reuters
MANILA, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Philippine Muslim rebels rejected on Tuesday a government proposal to give up weapons to strengthen a 1996 peace agreement that is up for review next month. The president's peace adviser said on Monday that the government would insist that guerrillas of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) disarm to avoid accidental clashes with soldiers. But the secretary-general of the MNLF, the oldest Muslim separatist group in the mainly Catholic country, said Manila's disarmament proposal was "next to impossible". "We will only lay down our guns if the government would also disarm militias and private armies," Muslimen Sema told reporters. The Organization of Islamic Conference has invited the MNLF and the Philippine government to a meeting in Jeddah next month to discuss ways to review the implementation of the peace agreement. The MNLF wants a review of the peace deal, which it says was underfunded and poorly implemented. The Muslim group formed in March 1968 to wage a secessionist war that left about 120,000 people dead and displaced nearly 2 million, was allowed to keep its weaponry after concluding a peace deal in Jakarta in 1996. The government also recruited about 7,500 MNLF fighters into the armed forces and the national police. About 1,000 more were conscripted into local militias called Citizen's Armed Forces Geographical Unit (Cafgu). The military supervise about 50,000 Cafgu members, who work as farmers and fishermen at day and part-time soldiers guarding their communities at night. But, the MNLF complained that some local politicians and big business interests used them as private armies to protect their interests. Sema said confidence would be built if Manila disarmed these private armies and "absorbed the MNLF fighters into the military and police". Sema also criticised the government for withholding economic assistance to MNLF communities, reneging on its commitment under the peace deal. Manila is separately negotiating a peace deal with the largest Muslim rebel force, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. But talks had been stalled since May 2006 over the size and wealth of a proposed ancestral homeland for 3 million Muslims.
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