Misuari named envoy to OIC

Muslim rebel-turned-politician Nur Misuari is to serve as special Philippine ambassador to the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), President Arroyo announced yesterday.

Misuari, the 60-year-old founder of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), ends his term as governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) this year.

"In furtherance of the peace process, I would like to announce the designation of Gov. Nur Misuari as special Philippine envoy to the OIC member countries," Mrs. Arroyo told a news conference.

Misuari "has graciously accepted this designation," she added.

The announcement came on the eve of the President’s flight to Mindanao today to visit Lanao del Sur, Ma-guindanao and North Cotabato to welcome back to the fold of the law members of another rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

The MNLF in 1996 ended a campaign lasting more than 20 years to set up a separate Islamic state in Mindanao when it signed a peace treaty with the government.

The settlement was brokered by the OIC, a bloc of more than 50 Islamic states that include Philippine neighbors Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei.

Misuari was later elected governor of ARMM, a Muslim self-rule area granted to the Muslim minority following the armistice.

Mrs. Arroyo has declared a unilateral truce with the MILF, a breakaway faction of the MNLF, and freed a number of Muslim and communist guerrillas to encourage their leaders to come to the negotiating table.

The President also said yesterday she will refer to her peace advisers, led by acting Defense Secretary Eduardo Ermita, a proposal for her to meet with MILF chairman Hashim Salamat.

In her news conference yesterday, Mrs. Arroyo failed to say why she designated Misuari as "special envoy" to the OIC when she earlier appointed Ambassador Raul Rabe as her "special envoy" to the OIC and the Americas.

Reading a prepared statement, the President also announced she will appoint lawyer Randolph Parcasio, ARMM executive director and MNLF member, as the new administrator of the Southern Philippines Development Authority (SPDA).

"As we move forward in the peace process, I would like to extend my appreciation to the MNLF and its leaders for their sustained participation in our peace and development efforts," she said.

"As we anticipate the opening of peace talks with the MILF and undertake determined efforts of relief, rehabilitation and development in conflict-affected areas, we need greater solidarity and teamwork among all our Christian, Muslim and Lumad brethren," she added.

After welcoming back the rebel returnees, the President is also to distribute today relief goods to evacuees in the former rebel stronghold Camp Abubakar in Cotabato, who were displaced by the "all-out war" policy pursued by the previous Estrada administration.

Her trip to Mindanao does not include any meeting with Salamat, Presidential Assistant for Eastern Mindanao Jesus Dureza told a radio interview yesterday.

Ermita said any meeting with Salamat has to be preceded by a list of talking points.

"When that meeting happens, if at all it will happen, there’s got to be certain substantive issues to be discussed and... decided upon. So a recommendation will be made on that particular matter," he said. – Marichu Villanueva