MANILA, Philippines -- Worn down by decades of fighting and
failed peace agreements, about 200 Muslim rebels led by their elusive
chief arrived in the Philippine capital for the signing of a preliminary
peace pact Monday aimed at ending one of Asia's longest-running
insurgencies.
The agreement is the first major tentative step
toward a final settlement that grants minority Muslims in the southern
Philippines broad autonomy in exchange for ending the violence that has
killed tens of thousands of people and crippled development.
A
product of 15 years of negotiations facilitated by neighboring Malaysia,
which wants stability on its doorstep, the agreement sets in motion a
roadmap to a final document that the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and
Philippine President Benigno Aquino III's government plan to clinch
before his six-year terms ends in 2016.
The signing will be
witnessed by Aquino, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and rebel
chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim, who will set foot for the first time in
Manila's Malacanang presidential palace, where officials prepared a
red-carpet welcome.
"That first step alone signifies a giant leap
in the relations between the two sides," said the presidential adviser
for the peace process, Teresita Deles.
Murad has seldom appeared
in public in past years. Aquino met Murad secretly in Tokyo for the
first time last year to underscore their commitment to settle the
rebellion.
About 300 Muslims from Manila and southern provinces held a noisy
rally outside the palace on Sunday in support of the preliminary accord,
yelling "Allahu Akbar," or "God is great." They called for more
development in the resource-rich but impoverished southern Mindanao
region, the homeland of minority Muslims in the predominantly Roman
Catholic nation.
Security has been tightened in the capital, although no disruptions were expected.
The
agreement is to be signed by government negotiator Marvic Leonen and
his rebel counterpart, Mohagher Iqbal. It outlines general agreements on
major issues, including the extent of power, revenues and territory of a
new Muslim autonomous region to be called Bangsamoro.
It calls
for the establishment of a 15-member Transition Commission to draft a
law creating the new Muslim-administered region. Rebel forces will be
deactivated gradually "beyond use," the agreement says, without
specifying a timetable.
The deal is the most significant progress
in years of tough bargaining with the 11,000-strong Moro group to end an
uprising that has left more than 120,000 people dead and displaced
about 2 million others. Western governments have worried over the
presence of small numbers of al-Qaida-linked militants from the Middle
East and Southeast Asia seeking combat training and collaboration with
the Filipino insurgents.
One of those extremist groups, the Abu
Sayyaf, is not part of any negotiations, but the hope is that the peace
agreement will isolate its militants and deny them sanctuary and
logistical support they had previously received from rebel commanders.
One
of those hardline commanders, Ameril Umbra Kato, broke off from the
main Moro insurgents last year. Kato's forces attacked the army in
August, prompting an offensive that killed more than 50 fighters in the
200-strong rebel faction.
Abu Misri Mammah, a spokesman for Kato's forces, said Sunday that his group does not recognize the peace accord.
"That's
a surrender," he said. "We won't waver from our armed struggle and
continue to aspire for a separate Muslim homeland that won't be a
creation of politicians."
The new Muslim region is to include an
existing autonomous territory made of five of the country's poorest and
most violent provinces. The Moro rebels earlier dropped a demand for a
separate Muslim state and renounced terrorism.
Iqbal has said his
group would not lay down its weapons until a final peace accord is
concluded. He said the insurgents could form a political party and run
in democratic elections to get a chance at leading the autonomous
region.
Associated Press