Various groups called on Arroyo to call off the offensive immediately.

By REXCEL SORZA, IOL Correspondent

ILOILO CITY , Philippines , February 23, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – Worried over the possibility that it might affect the peace talks and the entire home of most Filipino Muslims, Mindanao, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front is going to ask the Philippine government to declare cease-fire in the war-torn island of Sulu .

MILF announced Wednesday, February 23, it will formally inform the Philippine government “of the need for the declaration of ceasefire in Sulu” as “the fighting will affect their peace talks to resolve the long standing conflict in Mindanao .”

Mohagher Iqbal, MILF chief peace negotiator, said he will officially write to Secretary Silvestre Afable Jr., the government chief negotiator, “of the wisdom of calling for an immediate ceasefire between the Moro National Liberation Front under Nur Misuari and government forces that had already left more than 200 casualties on both sides.”

Igbal said “the continued skirmishes in Sulu will not only adversely affect the ongoing GRP-MILF Peace Talks but might escalate to other areas in Mindanao where other armed groups will attack military targets or otherwise in Mindanao whether in sympathy for the siege of Sulu or plain sabotage to the talks.”

“Such a worst-case scenario will not auger well for the people of Mindanao and the peace process even if the MNLF is another entity. The government will not gain anything in term of public opinion if it pursues its scorched-earth policy in Mindanao ,” he added.

Fighting between government forces and MNLF fighters is in its third week now with casualties reported to be around 200. Thousands of civilians have been displaced, too.

The MILF, scheduled to hold another round of peace negotiations this February with the government, had offered to broker a cease-fire between the two warring forces.

It sealed a cease-fire with the government, which is being monitored by a team from Malaysia , Libya and Brunei , and has since suspended its military campaign to reclaim Mindanao , once a Muslim kingdom.

Under Consideration

The MILF said it is capable of brokering the cease-fire, because it has an open line with the MNLF leadership and is talking peace with the government, in addition to its vast experience in cease-fire monitoring, having been in it for almost ten years now.

Filipino Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said Wednesday the government will study the advisability of declaring a state of emergency in Mindanao in light of the continuing armed clashes.

“At my level, all I could say is we will study such proposal but that will be decided by the President herself, in consultation with her security advisers,” Bunye said in a radio interview.

“This is a security matter and if indeed there is a need to declare a state of emergency, the president has to consult her security advisers. In other serious cases, she may convene the National Security Council which has a bigger membership,” he added referring to President Gloria Arroyo, who has announced last week an all-out war against the fighters.

Addressing Causes

Calls for cease-fire in Sulu, on the southern portion of Mindanao and home to thousands of Filipino Muslims, have been sounded off for several weeks now by peace advocates, non-governmental organizations, ulamas (Muslim scholars), Muslim and Christian groups, and many government officials to no avail.

The Mindanao Peoples Caucus called for the “immediate cessation of hostilities in Sulu” pointing out the ongoing conflict “is not just about banditry, lawlessness or terrorism by some desperate Moros” but “a result of frustration by the MNLF members over the failure of the 1996 Peace Agreement.”

The Sulu Civil Society Organizations, on the other hand, asked President Arroyo to “declare a ceasefire in the spirit of mercy and sobriety by listening to and heeding the appeal of her citizenry from the remote autonomous province of Sulu .”

The group called on MNLF chairman Nur Misuari, to ask the MNLF fighters “to heed the call for cease-fire from the citizenry whom it owes its vanguardship so that we can all give the budding seedling of hope for peace and prosperity nurtured by its fledgling Sulu Provincial Government.”

The ongoing fighting in Sulu broke out last February 7 when around 500 MNLF fighters remaining loyal to their founder, Nur Misuari, launched attacks against Philippine military positions.

The attack was triggered by the killing of a Muslim family in Indanan town by government soldiers.

The MNLF, which pushed for independence from Manila , signed a peace agreement with the Philippine government in 1996 that saw the integration of many MNLF fighters into the military and police.

Misuari became the governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao but was arrested, jailed and charged with rebellion.