OIC mission satisfied with progress of
Philippine peace pact
MANILA, Oct 18 (AFP) - A team
from the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) is satisfied with the progress of a
peace pact it brokered between the Philippines and the country's former main Muslim
insurgent group in 1996, the presidential palace said Tuesday.
The 22-member OIC fact-finding
mission, led by Indonesian foreign minister Alwi Shihab, was briefed by President Joseph
Estrada and senior presidential aides late Monday on the implementation of peace accord
between Manila and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), the statement said.
The statement quoted Shihab as
saying the briefing was "inspiring."
"We had a very good
conversation. I think as much as we are happy, the president is happy too because we
reported to him that we had been encouraged by the briefing given by the authorities of
the government as well as the MNLF," Shihab said.
The Philippines and the MNLF
are clearly "committed to implementing the peace agreement," Shihab said, adding
Estrada has assured them he wants to end the decades-long Muslim insurgency in the south.
The OIC mission is to visit the
main southern island of Mindanao to check on the progress of the peace accord and see the
living conditions of the Muslim minority there.
The government earlier
expressed hopes the OIC would help broker a similar peace pact with an MNLF-splinter
group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) waging a 22-year separatist war against
Manila.
The mission is also to visit
the southern island of Jolo, where a third Muslim group the Abu Sayyaf is still holding
five American, Malaysian and Filipino hostages.
Estrada's chief aide, Executive
Secretary Ronaldo Zamora said the OIC mission was informed Manila was pursuing efforts to
woo the MILF back to the negotiating table.
Peace talks with the
15,000-strong group collapsed early this year after troops overran the MILF's main
heaquarters and dozens of other rebel territories in the south.
"There is a great deal
that we have to accomplish, but all in all I think the delegation has seen that the
Philippine government is sincere in its efforts to develop Mindanao," Zamora said.
Armed forces spokesman
Brigadier General Generoso Senga said the OIC delegates would check on infrastructure
projects in Jolo but would not be allowed to visit Abu Sayyaf territories where the
military is undertaking a rescue operation.
"They will be taken to
safe places and where their interest really is," Senga said.
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