MNLF members hold peace summit in Sulu

From ABS-CBN (Jan 9): MNLF members hold peace summit in Sulu

Hundreds of members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) have convened in Indanan, Sulu to attend a peace summit spearheaded by founding chairman Nur Misuari.

The chairman of the MNLF Islamic Command Council, Habib Mudjahab Hashim said important matters will be discussed during the three-day peace summit, including the upcoming tripartite review of the 1996 Peace Agreement between the MNLF and the government of the Philippines.

Hashim said the government wants to put a closure on the contested provisions of the Peace Accord, which the MNLF believes has not been implemented even after the agreement was signed in 1996.

The MNLF also wants recognition from the government, pushing to include some of the provisions of the 1996 Peace Accord in the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).

Hundreds of armed followers of Misuari joined the coordinated attacks in Zamboanga City in 2013, after failing to get the nod of the government to hear their pleadings.

Hundreds of lives were lost during the almost one-month hostility in Zamboanga City.

Hashim said the meeting in Sulu will tackle the desire of their group for independence in Mindanao.

He also said they have no options left, since the government does not want to recognize their alternative pleading to create a separate autonomous region solely for the MNLF.

The provinces will include those areas outside the proposed Bangsamoro.

Hashim said the group of Hadji Ebrahim Murad of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) might forge an alliance with their group to push for a united and independent Mindanao.

Meanwhile, police and military forces in Zamboanga City have intensified the security in most of the entry and exit points in the city after some residents started to express concern over the presence of MNLF members in Zamboanga City.

In the village of Baliwasan, policemen invited seven members of MNLF for questioning.

According to Faizer Serna, one of the officers of the MNLF based in Central Mindanao, they decided to stay in Zamboanga City due to budget constraints. 

Other officials, however, went to Sulu to attend the peace summit.

He added that they came to Zamboanga City unarmed and without any bad intentions.

Serna said their group did not participate in the 2013 Zamboanga siege, but they do understand why the residents of Zamboanga City are reacting negatively to their presence.

Policemen escorted Serna and his group to the village of Recodo, where they could stay with their relatives while waiting for their officials to arrive from the peace summit in Sulu.

http://news.abs-cbn.com/nation/regions/01/08/16/mnlf-members-hold-peace-summit-in-sulu