Gov't gains Iran support for observer status in the OIC

The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) may lose its observer status in the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) if the Philippine government gets the support of its member-countries for such status.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Foreign Affairs Secretary Domingo Siazon got the support of Iran for the government's observer status in the influential 56-state OIC during a meeting with his counterpart, Kamal Kharazzi, in Tehran early this week.

Siazon briefed Kharazzi on the implementation of the peace accord with the Nur Misuari-led MNLF and the status of peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

The DFA said Iran was satisfied with the government's peace initiatives with the MILF.

Earlier, OIC member Indonesia had expressed its support for the Philippines' observer status.

Ideally, an OIC observer status is granted to only one Muslim group in a particular country or the country itself.

The nomination of the Philippines for an observer status is hoped to be achieved in the next OIC Foreign Ministers' Meeting where the Philippines will be a guest.

DFA sources said an observer status for the Philippines is vital to counter the alleged disinformation campaign being waged by Misuari on the government's supposed violation of the 1996 peace accord.

They said the MNLF should have been stripped of its observer status in the OIC after it entered into the peace pact with the government.

With the MNLF now a part of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and the Philippine government as a whole, DFA officials said Misuari should be sitting as an OIC observer in behalf of the country, not MNLF's.

The DFA officials believe that the MILF may also be working to dislodge the MNLF as the official OIC-recognized representative of Muslims in the southern Philippines.

Meanwhile, Sen. Aquilino Pimentel, who chairs the Senate committee on local government, said there is a possibility that the ARMM elections, slated in September, may be held alongside next year's local and national elections since the legislature still has to pass the amendatory law that will legalize the conduct of the plebiscite on an expanded autonomous set-up.

"In fact, President Estrada and I had a talk about the possibility of holding the ARMM elections together with the elections next year," Pimentel told Cotabato City radio station dxMS early this week. - With John Unson