Philippines, rebels close to peace deal

KUALA LUMPUR: Muslim rebels and the Philippine government are close to a deal on land claims, the key to ending a 40-year insurgency that has cost more than 120,000 lives, the facilitator of the talks said on Tuesday.

Negotiators from Manila and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), now in Malaysia for talks, are putting "final touches" on a preliminary agreement on the issue, Othman Abdul Razak, special adviser to Malaysia's prime minister, told Reuters.

"We are quite optimistic. Everyone is quite optimistic. There is a groundswell in support of the peace process, especially from the Muslims," said Othman, who is facilitating the talks on behalf of Malaysia, seen by both sides as a neutral party. A final agreement on the issue of ancestral domain could be reached by late March or early April. "That is our timeline," Othman said, adding that a full peace accord could follow before the Muslim fasting month began in late September.

"If everything goes on smoothly, we can have it probably before Ramadan," said Othman, a strategic adviser to successive prime ministers and a top bureaucrat with 33 years' experience.

Mainly Muslim Malaysia has been hosting talks between Manila and the MILF, the largest of four Muslim rebel groups in the mainly Roman Catholic country, since March 2001.

The 12,000-strong MILF has been fighting for an independent Islamic state in the impoverished but mineral-rich southern island of Mindanao. The conflict has stunted the island's development and hurt the nation's overall investment climate. A deal on Muslim ancestral lands would define boundaries and and determine who has ownership and mining rights, Othman said.

He said the current talks also touched on the importance of persuading local people of the benefits of peace and of securing international aid to rebuild and develop the area.

"All these are to run in tandem with the negotiations as they head toward final agreement," he said. "We expect countries like Japan to come in to do the rehabilitation and development. The problem is they will come in only after the signing. They fear for their safety and also whatever assistance be translated into weapons."

So far, international support has been very limited. Only Malaysia, Brunei and Libya have deployed a team overseeing the ceasefire on Mindanao.

Othman said there should also be offers from other countries to help develop infrastructure, train manpower and create jobs.

"We are appealing to the international community to lend support in capacity-building before the final agreement. We need it now," he said. What will the MILF's guerrillas do if peace breaks out?

"In peacetime, what do you do with the fighters? You have to make them become economically useful citizens. Otherwise, they become criminals. That's the danger."

Othman played down concerns about alleged MILF links to groups like Jemaah Islamiah, the Southeast Asian militant Islamic network blamed for a string of deadly bombings in Indonesia. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Tuesday, Reuters