Sunday, June 23, 2013

Philippine gov't optimistic of July talks with Muslim rebels

From the Philippine News Agency (Jun 23): Philippine gov't optimistic of July talks with Muslim rebels

The Philippine government is hoping that contentious issues on the three remaining annexes of the framework agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB) could finally be resolved in the formal peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) set early next month, a senior government official said Sunday.

Deputy Presidential Spokeswoman Abigail Valte said that the Aquino administration is optimistic about the upcoming peace negotiation.

"We hope that there will be a good resolution to the talks that are scheduled in July," she said in an interview over a state-run radio station.

The last formal talks were held in April but ended without the signing of any of the three remaining annexes -- power-sharing, wealth-sharing and normalization. The annex on transitional arrangements and modalities was inked in February.

The government and the MILF, the largest Muslim rebel group in the country, have to complete first all the annexes of the FAB before they could forge a comprehensive agreement.

While the government is fully committed in the peace process with the MILF, Valte said, the Aquino administration wants to ensure that the three annexes and the comprehensive compact will "pass legal muster."

That was why the government thoroughly evaluated and studied the draft annexes, which are now with the MILF, she said.

Government chief negotiator Miriam Coronel-Ferrer has announced that she and her counterpart with the MILF, Mohagher Iqbal, agreed at the sidelines of a forum in Norway to resume the formal talks early next month to discuss the three remaining annexes.

The MILF has been fighting government troops for decades to establish a self-rule Muslim state in southern Philippines.

The Aquino government and the MILF formally signed on Oct. 15 of 2012 the framework agreement, a road map for final political settlement to end the decades-old armed struggle in southern Philippines.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=&sid=&nid=&rid=537239

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