Post by E-Q on Aug 4, 2008 12:15:28 GMT 8
Muslim separatist rebels in the southern Philippines said Sunday they are ready to sign a deal with the government giving them control of large swathes of land.
The agreement grants the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) an autonomous region which will have its own legal, banking and education systems, civil service and internal security force.
"It's all systems go for the signing of the agreement on August 5," MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu told AFP by phone from his base in Mindanao in the south.
"Our men on the ground want to see peace in Mindanao, and we have been talking for a long time already," he said.
The government of the proposed MILF-controlled area would also have the power to send trade missions and enter into international economic arrangements, according to a draft of the agreement obtained by the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
It is expected to be signed in Malaysia on Tuesday and will be witnessed by Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo and his Malaysian counterpart Rais Yatim, officials said.
The proposed homeland will cover villages and municipalities in eight provinces in Mindanao, where the MILF has been waging a bloody rebellion since 1978.
The ancestral domain is the last remaining hurdle for a final political settlement that is expected to end the four decades-old insurgency that has claimed more than 120,000 lives.
Once it is signed, both sides are expected to work towards signing a final peace deal that would include plans for the future of the MILF's 12,000 fighters, many of whom have said they will not disarm.
The agreement grants the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) an autonomous region which will have its own legal, banking and education systems, civil service and internal security force.
"It's all systems go for the signing of the agreement on August 5," MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu told AFP by phone from his base in Mindanao in the south.
"Our men on the ground want to see peace in Mindanao, and we have been talking for a long time already," he said.
The government of the proposed MILF-controlled area would also have the power to send trade missions and enter into international economic arrangements, according to a draft of the agreement obtained by the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
It is expected to be signed in Malaysia on Tuesday and will be witnessed by Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo and his Malaysian counterpart Rais Yatim, officials said.
The proposed homeland will cover villages and municipalities in eight provinces in Mindanao, where the MILF has been waging a bloody rebellion since 1978.
The ancestral domain is the last remaining hurdle for a final political settlement that is expected to end the four decades-old insurgency that has claimed more than 120,000 lives.
Once it is signed, both sides are expected to work towards signing a final peace deal that would include plans for the future of the MILF's 12,000 fighters, many of whom have said they will not disarm.