Malaysia also offers to host MILF talks

Malaysia, too, is ready to host talks between the Phi-lippine government and the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to end a secessionist rebellion in Mindanao.

But Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said in Kuala Lumpur yesterday that any assistance from Malaysia would not include granting political asylum to the rebels.

"If they want us to play a role and they think we can play a useful role, of course we are willing to do that, but the terms of reference must be clear on our role," Syed Hamid said.

Syed Hamid made the announcement a day after Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid expressed willingness to mediate the talks and give MILF chair-man Hashim Salamat asylum.

Indonesia, under former President Suharto, had hosted the Philippine government’s 1996 talks with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), ending that group’s 30-year secessionist rebellion.

Malaysia also hosted preliminary talks in Kuala Lumpur last month on a general ceasefire that is supposed to pave the way for the resumption of the peace talks with the MILF. The talks were stalled under the Estrada administration last year.

Both Malaysia and Indonesia are members of the Organization of Islamic Conference’s (OIC) Committee of Seven which brokered the 1996 accord with the MNLF.

Other members of the committee are Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Libya, Brunei and Senegal.

"Malaysia has been very forthcoming in helping the Philippines and in this regard we will help in any way possible," Syed Hamid said. But "it is not our desire or obligation to provide asylum for anyone."

Apparently alluding to the ongoing political disorder in various parts of Indonesia, Syed Hamid also said Malaysia would be willing to provide more help provided "our investors feel secure about the security situation."

Wahid on Thursday offered Manado in eastern Indonesia as site for the talks and said he would be glad to preside. He also offered Pantar Barat, an island in the Bay of Jakarta, as a place for Salamat, who might wish to get out of the Philippines.

Wahid’s supposed offer of asylum to Salamat raised diplomatic eyebrows in Manila yesterday and government officials explained there was no malice in Indonesia’s asylum offer.

Presidential assistant for Mindanao Jesus Dureza, chairman of the government panel to the peace talks with the MILF, said Indonesia didn’t mean any harm in making the asylum offer.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), for its part, officially thanked Wahid for his offer of help but sought a clarification on Wahid’s offer to "mediate" and the proposed asylum.

"We are grateful for President’s Wahid’s willingness to help although it is an unusual and unique way of being a good neighbor," said Foreign Undersecretary Lauro Baja Jr.

However, Baja said the Philippines needs clarification on the offer, especially the part of the asylum, since asylum is usually granted to those who are political fugitives.

Baja said there is now no reason for the Muslim rebels to leave the country since the government and the MILF have agreed to resume peace talks.

At the same time, presidential adviser on the peace process Eduardo Ermita said Wahid’s offer will be taken up by the Cabinet Cluster E on national security and political developments, chaired by Vice President and Foreign Secretary Teofisto Guingona Jr.

"It is still hanging in the air. We still have to discuss this smatter with the Cluster E," Ermita said, explaining that the Cabinet Cluster E has been tasked to review all matters pertaining the peace process.

Ermita headed the panel that met with MILF representatives in Kuala Lumpur last month to forge an indefinite ceasefire to pave the way for the resumption of peace talks.

Ermita said the President can still choose either Kuala Lumpur or Jakarta as the venue of the talks since both countries are members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The MILF also had no comment on Wahid’s offer and instead expressed optimism it would outdo the communist National Democratic Front (NDF) and forge a peace accord with the government in one year’s time.

"We are hopeful that an accord would be reached with the government in a year when the problems are resolved," MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu said in a telephone interview.

Kabalu, who chairs the MILF committee on cessation of hostilities, admitted that several contentious issues, most of them political, need to be settled before an accord can be reached.

"(But) it will produce good results once the problems are resolved," Kabalu assured. "The main issue here is for the Moro people to be given the right to govern themselves." — With Marichu Villanueva