OIC invites MNLF, MILF to consultation meeting

From the Manila Bulletin (Jun 3): OIC invites MNLF, MILF to consultation meeting

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has invited leaders of various Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) groups and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) for a consultation on the peace process. The meeting is scheduled on June 14 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The MNLF groups are sending 11 representatives from the groups led by founding Chairman Nur Misuari, Chairman Muslimin Sema, and Chairman Habib Mujahab Hashim, sources said.

The MILF is sending an eight-man delegation to the Jeddah meeting initiated by the pan-Islamic body in consonance with the Bangsamoro Coordinating Forum (BCF).

The BCF is a mechanism created under the OIC aegis to bring the MNLF leaders and the MNLF and MILF to work together for the Bangsamoro people’s welfare.

OIC VISIT

Meanwhile, it was learned that representatives from the 15 OIC member-states with embassies in the Philippines are scheduled to visit Mindanao on June 4, information from the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) said.

The visit is “to monitor the progress and development in Mindanao as part of the Tripartite Review process (TRP) relative to the implementation” of the 1996 Final Peace Agreement (FPA).

OPAPP said ambassadors of the OIC members are also to visit North Cotabato and Maguindanao, tentatively in July.

BANGSAMORO AGREEMENT

Hashim of the Islamic Command Council (MNLF-ICC) said yesterday the OIC General Secretariat wants to consult the MNLF and MILF leaders on the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB).

The government of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) signed the CAB on March 27 in Manila, after about 17 years of negotiations.

MNLF leaders, particularly in Misuari’s and Hashim’s groups, have vehemently opposed to the CAB.

On the other hand, Abdul Sahrin, secretary general of Sema’s group, said the meeting with the OIC “is based on the BCF” which seeks to unite the MNLF leaders, and the MNLF with the MILF.

“The OIC wants the MNLF leaders to have a single voice about the peace process,” he said.

http://www.mb.com.ph/oic-invites-mnlf-milf-to-consultation-meeting/