MILF looks forward to continuing peace negotiations

Barely a week after storming out of a meeting with their government counterparts, Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) negotiators are now looking forward to continuing peace negotiations with government.

MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal credited Presidential Peace Process Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr and Malaysian facilitator Datuk Othman bin Abd Razak for convincing them to stay on.

"We look forward to continuing the negotiation on the Comprehensive Compact and to finally address the Bangsamoro problem and the conflict in Mindanao," Iqbal said in a statement on the MILF website Monday night.

The MILF statement said Esperon and Datuk Othman persuaded the government and MILF peace panels to return to the negotiating table, which led to the initialling of the document Sunday night.

At the time, the MILF negotiators had walked out of the meeting over another disagreement on a draft agreement on ancestral domain presented by the government panel.

"We managed to convince the MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal and lawyer Datu Michael Mastura to stand by even as we tried to iron out the thorny points," Datuk Othman said.

Both panels also conveyed their appreciation to Malaysian Prime Minister Dato' Seri Abdullah bin Haji Ahmad Badawi for the Malaysian government's continued assistance in the peace process.

They also thanked President Arroyo's "unwavering commitment" in pushing forward the Mindanao peace process.

Sunday's initialling of the draft agreement on ancestral domain ended the tense exploratory talks.

The MILF said that after the MILF walkout, Esperon, national security adviser Norberto Gonzales and the government peace panel led by Rodolfo Garcia went to Kuala Lumpur to confer with the Malaysian officials.

At the time, less than half of the MILF negotiating team had remained in the Malaysian capital.

The rest of the MILF delegation, Atty. Lanang Ali, Atty. Musib Buat, and Maulana Alonto had already left for Mindanao.

"All in all, it has taken the Parties a span of three years and seven months to strike a peace deal completing the four strands – conceptual framework, territory, resources, and governance," Matsura said.

In a joint statement issued after the initialling ceremony, both sides said they relied on their "deep reservoir of goodwill and cooperation" to restart the session. (GMANews.TV)