OIC renews call for linkage between MILF, MNLF peace accords

MANILA, Philippines - Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) secretary-general Iyad Ameen Madani has reiterated his call for the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to be synchronized with the 1976 Tripoli agreement and the 1996 final peace pact with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

In a statement posted on the OIC website (OIC-OCI.org), Madani said among the concerns of the 57-member Islamic body is that the Bangsamoro are still struggling to prove their “identity and confirm their history and rights.”

“In light of the agreement signed recently between Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Philippine government under the auspices of Malaysia in the presence and witness of some member states, and opposed by all factions of Moro National Liberation Front, and the fact that the declared texts of the new agreement do not mention or build explicitly on Tripoli and Jakarta Agreements of 1976 and 1997 respectively,” he said.

The post was made during the opening of the 41st OIC Conference of Foreign Ministers on June 18 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Madani said the OIC Secretariat has spared no effort in bringing the two groups together to establish the stand of the Islamic body towards that conflict.

“They actually met a few days ago and reached a memorandum of understanding which we hope will be the basis for bridging the gap between them and establishing a united national front that follows up the implementation of the new agreement and links it to the previous agreements overlooked by the Philippine government,” he said.

Spokesman Emmanuel Fontanilla said senior MNLF leaders have met with Madani to reaffirm their unity under founding chairman Nur Misuari in Jeddah last week.

“The meeting with OIC secretary was a great success, they (MNLF leaders) firmly uphold the MNLF leadership under Misuari,” he said.

Fontanilla said they had relayed the message of Misuari rejecting integration of the CAB with the 1996 peace agreement.

“The MNLF is now back to its original political objective which is the independence of the Bangsamoro Republik,” he said.

The OIC supports the reconciliation of both fronts and the implementation of the new agreement and compliance of the Philippine government to its text and soul is “unavoidable if we want Bangsamoro Muslim people in the Philippines to obtain their most basic rights,” Madani said.

Earlier, Fontanilla said the warrant of arrest issued by the Zamboanga regional trial court has prevented Misuari from attending the 41st Foreign Minister’s Meeting in Jeddah last Wednesday and Thursday.