OIC foreign ministers mull appointment of resident representative to RP

Foreign ministers of member-states of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) have recommended to the OIC secretary-general the appointment of a resident representative to the Philippines to look into the plight of Filipino Muslims.

The recommendation was stated in a resolution passed during the OIC’s June 19-20 International Conference of Foreign Ministers in Azerbaijan.

The resolution, entitled "Question of Muslims in Southern Philippines," also reaffirmed support to the Sept. 2, 1996 peace pact between the government and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

The OIC, composed of 57 Muslim countries, including Arab petroleum-exporting states, helped broker the GRP-MNLF truce.

Three member-states of the OIC — Malaysia, Brunei and Libya — are helping mediate the on-going peace talks between the government and the secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MNLF), a breakaway faction of the MNLF.

Preceding the meeting in Azerbaijan of foreign ministers from OIC member-countries was the week-long tour of representatives, led by Sayed Kaseem Al-Masry, last May to assess the implementation of the GRP-MNLF peace accord.

The MNLF has been ranting on what it branded as "weak provisions" of the agreement, a claim that has booted out misunderstandings with the government.

The recommendation for the OIC secretary-general to name a special representative to the Philippines was premised on the findings of Al-Masry’s group on how the government and the MNLF have been implementing the peace pact.

The MNLF was represented by Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Speaker Hatimil Hassan in the Azerbaijan gathering of representatives from OIC-member-states. The MILF also sent two of its ranking leaders, Maulana Alonto, a member of its peace panel.

The OIC will preside a tripartite meeting with representatives of the Philippine government and the MNLF in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in July to discuss seeming misunderstandings on the 10-year-old peace agreement.