The Philippine government and Muslim rebels have agreed to a preliminary peace deal for the country’s troubled south, President Benigno Aquino has announced, signalling an end to a 40-year conflict that has killed more than 100,000 people and crippled the region’s economy.
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front has fought for decades for an independent Islamic state in southern Philippines. It has been blamed for rampant attacks in the region. It provides for a new autonomous region in the south, where Muslims are a majority in a mainly Catholic country.
The MILF is “very happy” with the deal, a spokesman was quoted as saying. The deal marks the most significant progress in 15 years of negotiations with the 11,000-strong Moro group. The uprising has left more than 120,000 people dead and held back development in the south.
Shortly after the announcement, a breakaway group said it would continue to fight for an independent Islamic state. President Aquino said the new autonomous region would be named Bangsamoro, after the Moros living there. “This framework agreement is about rising above our prejudices,” the president said.
The preliminary deal marks a major milestone after years of negotiations with the Moro group to help end an insurgency that has killed tens of thousands. The deal marks the most significant progress in 15 years of negotiations with the 11,000-strong Moro group on ending an uprising that has left more than 120,000 people dead and held back development in the south.
Philippine officials said the preliminary accord would be posted on the government’s website for public scrutiny and signed soon in Manila in the presence of Aquino, Malaysian PM Najib Razak and Moro rebel chief Al Haj Murad Ebrahim.
Hopes of peace have been raised in the past only to be dashed, most recently in 2008 when the Supreme Court declared a deal unconstitutional in a decision that set off rebel attacks and a fierce military offensive that displaced 750,000 people.
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front has fought for decades for an independent Islamic state in southern Philippines. It has been blamed for rampant attacks in the region. It provides for a new autonomous region in the south, where Muslims are a majority in a mainly Catholic country.
The MILF is “very happy” with the deal, a spokesman was quoted as saying. The deal marks the most significant progress in 15 years of negotiations with the 11,000-strong Moro group. The uprising has left more than 120,000 people dead and held back development in the south.
Shortly after the announcement, a breakaway group said it would continue to fight for an independent Islamic state. President Aquino said the new autonomous region would be named Bangsamoro, after the Moros living there. “This framework agreement is about rising above our prejudices,” the president said.
The preliminary deal marks a major milestone after years of negotiations with the Moro group to help end an insurgency that has killed tens of thousands. The deal marks the most significant progress in 15 years of negotiations with the 11,000-strong Moro group on ending an uprising that has left more than 120,000 people dead and held back development in the south.
Philippine officials said the preliminary accord would be posted on the government’s website for public scrutiny and signed soon in Manila in the presence of Aquino, Malaysian PM Najib Razak and Moro rebel chief Al Haj Murad Ebrahim.
Hopes of peace have been raised in the past only to be dashed, most recently in 2008 when the Supreme Court declared a deal unconstitutional in a decision that set off rebel attacks and a fierce military offensive that displaced 750,000 people.
