New hope, new fear for Mindanao
By Carlos H Conde
MANILA - Four days after President Benigno Aquino met in Tokyo with leaders of the rebel Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the main Muslim separatist group in the Philippines, a series of firefights between the rebel group and one of its breakaway factions broke out in the southern Philippines, killing at least 14 people and displacing thousands from their homes.
The violence dampened the optimism that was raised by the August 4 secret meeting between Aquino and Al Haj Murad Ibrahim, the MILF's chairman. The meeting was significant as it was rare for a Philippine head of state to meet with the leader of a rebel group before the signing of any official peace accord. The men talked for nearly two hours at a hotel near Narita airport in Japan, giving a significant boost to the until now stalled peace process. Government officials said it was Aquino who sought the meeting.
The fighting left no doubt among many Filipinos that the conflict in the southern island of Mindanao will not be resolved easily. Now more than ever, analysts say, the government needs to demonstrate a willingness to offer a sincere and comprehensive solution, if only to avoid a repeat in previous negotiations in which peace initiatives were undermined by factionalism. Indeed, the MILF was born of an internal split when rebels led by Hashim Salamat broke away from the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in 1977.
(Leer más)
