MILF: MILF Chair receives Independent Decommissioning Body in Camp Darapanan

Posted to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front Website (Oct 12): MILF Chair receives Independent Decommissioning Body in Camp Darapanan      



MILF Chairman Alhaj Murad Ebrahim met with the officers of the Independent Decommissioning Body (IDB) on October 5 at his office in Camp Darapanan in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao.

Currently chaired by retired Turkish Ambassador Mustafa Pulat, the IDB is the mechanism established by the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and MILF negotiating panels and tasked to oversee the decommissioning of MILF weaponry and combatants.

Pulat expressed gratitude for the MILF’s warm reception and briefly introduced his team with its Chief of Staff Asbjorn Lode.

The IDB is seven-man team which includes two other foreign experts and four other local experts nominated by the GPH and the MILF panels.

After a brief opening remarks of Central Committee Secretary Mohammad Ameen, Chairman Murad Ebrahim started his updates by  conveying  thanks  to IDB.

He began with mentioning the ceremonial launching of the start of engagement with the new administration in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia last August 13-14, 2016.

“We hope that the peace process will continue and be concluded in this administration,” Chairman Ebrahim said. He then informed the group of the renaming of the Peace Negotiating Panel to Peace Implementation Panel since the present administration agreed that the negotiation has already been completed, and now the focus will be on  the implementation.

While still counting on the pronouncements of  President Duterte that the peace process will be given a chance, and Bangsamoro question be addressed, the MILF  on the other hand sees  challenges. Said challenges are posed by other agenda of the administration, thus diverting its focus on others issues.

Nevertheless, Chairman Ebrahim said that the MILF remains optimistic that the peace process woud not be sidelined for only in the negotiated political solution do they see  peace with justice.
Matters about the normalization mechanics were also taken up.

Ambasador Pulat said  Bangsamoro should not be disheartened by the progress of events both locally and internationally, citing the case of the referendum in Colombia where a peace agreement was defeated.

Pulat succeeded on October 20, 2015 his fellow Turkish Ambassador Haydar Berk who led the team that was instrumental in guaranteeing a smooth decommissioning of the initial 145 MILF combatants and 75 crew-served and high powered armaments in July 2015.

http://www.luwaran.com/index.php/news/20-central-mindanao/915-milf-chair-receives-independent-decommissioning-body-in-camp-darapanan