Philippines, Muslim rebels agree on peace pact

October 08, 2012

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine government and the country's largest Muslim rebel group have reached a preliminary peace deal that is a major breakthrough toward ending a decades-long insurgency that killed tens of thousands and held back development in the south.

Philippine President Benigno Aquino III said the "framework agreement" calling for an autonomous region for minority Muslims in the predominantly Roman Catholic nation was an assurance the Moro Islamic Liberation Front insurgents will no longer aim to secede.

The agreement, announced Sunday and to be signed Oct. 15 in Manila, spells out principles on major issues, including the extent of power, revenues and territory of the Muslim region. If all goes well, a final peace deal could be reached by 2016, when Aquino's six-year term ends, officials said.

"This framework agreement paves the way for final and enduring peace in Mindanao," Aquino said, referring to the southern Philippine region and homeland of the country's Muslims. "This means that the hands that once held rifles will be put to use tilling land, selling produce, manning work stations and opening doorways of opportunity."

He cautioned that "the work does not end here" and that details of the accord still need to be worked out. Those talks are expected to be tough but doable, officials and rebels said. Rebel vice chairman Ghadzali Jaafar said the agreement provides a huge relief to people who have long suffered from war and are "now hoping the day would come when there will be no need to bear arms."

The deal marks the most significant progress in 15 years of on-and-off negotiations with the 11,000-strong Moro group on ending an uprising that has left more than 120,000 people dead, displaced about 2 million others and held back development in the south. Western governments have long worried that rebel strongholds could become breeding grounds for al-Qaida-affiliated extremists.

One of the groups not party to the peace agreement is the Abu Sayyaf, which is notorious for ransom kidnappings and terrorist attacks over the last two decades. Its small bands of militants, mostly confined to jungles in two southern island provinces, continue to battle U.S.-trained Filipino troops.

"The parties agree that the status quo is unacceptable," the 13-page agreement says. It calls for the creation of a new Muslim autonomous region called "Bangsamoro" to replace an existing one created in 1989 which Aquino characterized as a "failed experiment," where poverty and corruption have forced many "to articulate their grievances through the barrel of a gun."

The accord also calls for the establishment of a 15-member Transition Commission to work out the details of the preliminary agreement and draft a law creating the new Muslim autonomous region in about two years.

Rebel forces would be deactivated gradually "beyond use," the agreement says, without specifying a timetable. The Philippine government would continue to exercise exclusive powers over defense and security, foreign and monetary policy in the new autonomous region, where Muslims would be assured of an "equitable share of taxation, revenues, and the fruits of national patrimony ... and equal protection of laws and access to impartial justice," according to Aquino.

Philippine officials said the preliminary accord would be posted on the government's website for public scrutiny, and would be signed in Manila in the presence of Aquino, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and Moro rebel chief Al Haj Murad Ibrahim.

Malaysia in particular has played a key role as a facilitator. The neighboring, Muslim-majority nation has historically close ties with Filipino Muslims and fears a repeat of a refugee crisis from the 1970s and 80s when hundreds of thousands of Filipinos fleeing violence in the south fled to Malaysian state of Sabah.

"It's been a long journey and this is an important milestone in our search for lasting peace," presidential peace talks adviser Teresita Deles told The Associated Press. The United States, Britain, Malaysia and other countries welcomed the accord.

"This agreement is a testament to the commitment of all sides for a peaceful resolution to the conflict in the southern Philippines," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said in a statement. "The next steps will be to ensure that the framework agreement is fully implemented."

The new Muslim region would be built upon an existing five-province autonomous territory, among the country's poorest and most violent, with more than 4 million people. The Moro rebels earlier dropped a demand for a separate Muslim state and renounced terrorism.

Their negotiator, Mohagher Iqbal, earlier said his group would not lay down its weapons until a final peace accord is concluded. He said the insurgents could form a political party and run in democratic elections to get a chance at leading the autonomous region for which they have been fighting.

In Kuala Lumpur, Philippine government negotiator Marvic Leonen said both sides face the enormous task of working out the details. "We are not naive to say that there would be no obstacles. But the Philippine government will defend the agreement," Leonen said.

The challenges are many. In 2008, the planned signing of a similar preliminary pact was scuttled when opponents went to the Supreme Court, which declared the agreement unconstitutional. Fighting erupted when three rebel commanders attacked Christian communities, and an ensuing military offensive killed more than 100 people and displaced about 750,000 villagers before a cease-fire ended the violence.

One of the hardline rebel commanders, Ameril Umbra Kato, broke off from the Moro rebels last year. Kato's forces launched attacks on several army camps and outposts in August, prompting another army offensive that killed more than 50 fighters in the 200-strong rebel faction.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front itself broke away in the 1980s from the Moro National Liberation Front, which signed a 1996 autonomy deal with the government. That peace accord did not lead to disarming of the group and many of the rebels have simply laid low in the south, still demanding that the government fulfill its commitments, including jobs, security and economic development.

Some former guerrillas also formed the Abu Sayyaf. They are mostly based in the southern provinces of Sulu and Basilan, where about 400 gunmen remain.

Ng reported from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Associated Press writer Hrvoje Hranjski in Manila and Matthew Pennington in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.