Decommissioning combatants remains a thorny issue in peace talks, MILF says

From InterAksyon (Nov 12): Decommissioning combatants remains a thorny issue in peace talks, MILF says

Decommissioning combatants of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) remains a thorny issue, the group’s leadership said on Monday as it resumed its peace talks with the Philippine government in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.  “I don’t expect smooth-sailing on the issue of normalization,” Abdulla Camlian, a member of the MILF peace panel, said. “There will be no breakthrough at least during this meeting.” Camlian is a member of the group’s peace panel together with Atty. Michael Mastura, Roberto “Maulana” Alonto, and Muhajirin Ali. The group is also part of the MILF delegation to the Foreign Ministers’ Conference of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) which will be held in Djibouti starting November 15. The MILF describes the ongoing Kuala Lumpur meeting as a “7-day grueling session” as both parties discuss power-sharing, wealth-sharing, and normalization. “The meeting would be very tough especially on the matters of policing, decommissioning, and gradual redeployment of government forces,” Camlian said. But he admitted that the burden of the discussion belong to the three technical working groups since each panel is expected to deliver results especially with the overwhelming support of the people and the international community. Camlian also said that the meeting will also tackle the so-called MILF “political detainees”, inter-governmental relationship, transitional arrangement and modalities or political road map, third party monitoring team, independent commission on policing, multi-trust fund, and joint normalization committee. “Some if not all of these issues are still not easy,” he said. Earlier, Malacanang announced the creation of a 15-man Transition Commission that will guide the implementation of the Bangsamoro political entity, a new concept of autonomy that will dissolve the present Autonomous region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). “It is also expected that the parties will discuss the status of the 15-man Transition Commission which will be constituted after President Benigno Aquino III issued the Executive Order for its creation,” Camlian said.

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/47805/decommissioning-combatants-remains-a-thorny-issue-in-peace-talks-milf-says