Kuala Lumpur - Stalled peace negotiations between the Philippine government and Muslim guerrillas cannot advance unless Manila stops harping on technical points, a Malaysian official brokering the talks said Friday.
The Philippine government may have to back off on its insistence that any accord conform with its constitution if it hopes to restart negotiations, said Othman Abdul Razak, the chief Malaysian mediator.
Malaysia‘s decision to start pulling out cease-fire monitors from the southern Philippines is "meant to send a signal" that Philippine authorities should speed up efforts to sign a formal peace pact with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Othman said.
"The trouble is that things are not moving in the talks," Othman told The Associated Press. "The ball is in the (Philippine government‘s) court, but they have been sitting on it."
Malaysia announced last week it will soon withdraw its truce monitors who make up the majority of a 60-person international contingent. The monitors are credited with preventing major fighting in the Philippines‘ southern Mindanao region and there are fears their withdrawal could threaten the cease-fire.
The move comes after the Malaysia-brokered peace talks floundered in December when the rebels‘ negotiators walked away from a meeting to protest Manila‘s position that any accord should conform with the Philippine constitution.
The MILF, which the Philippine military says has 11,000 fighters, is the largest Muslim group battling for self-rule in the southern Philippines.
Othman said Manila‘s insistence on the constitutional issue was "a constraint."
"It really boils down to the political will of the government," he said. "If the government wants the talks to progress, it can do it. It can think creatively. But if it wants to stick to the constitution, things will not move."
One reason the rebels are said to oppose Manila‘s stance on the constitutional issue is that it would require any accord reached in the talks to be put to a national referendum. The rebels want any deal to stand on its own.
Othman stressed that Malaysia has no plans to stop mediating the negotiations, but added that "we may have to decide on many things" if the talks remain deadlocked for too long. He declined to elaborate.
According to the previous timetable, both sides had hoped to seal an agreement on Muslim ancestral land claims in January 2008. That could have paved the path for a comprehensive peace pact by this August, Othman said.
"Now we have no way of telling when anything will happen," he said.
At least half of the 41 Malaysian monitors are expected to leave May 10, while the others are to return home before September. Philippine authorities hope other monitors from Brunei, Libya and Japan will stay, although Brunei has reportedly said it would follow Malaysia‘s lead.
Under the 2003 cease-fire, clashes have dropped from up to 700 a year to just 15 last year.
Source: www.iht.com (3 Mei 2008)