Peace talks to continue amid Sabah crisis - MILF

MANILA, Philippines - The peace talks between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) will resume next week amid the crisis in Sabah which has claimed dozens of lives.

“As far as we are concerned, it will resume as scheduled,” MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal said in an interview on Wednesday.

Iqbal declined to say the exact date of the next round of talks, but noted that this has been scheduled in the third week of March.

He said the negotiators would continue to discuss matters on normalization as well as wealth and power sharing.

“There is no timeframe (for the completion of the discussions) but we have to fast-track this,” Iqbal said.

Government and MILF negotiators signed the Annex on Transitional Arrangements and Modalities after the 36th round of formal exploratory talks in Kuala Lumpur from February 25 to 27.

The annex details the road map towards the creation of the Bangsamoro region. The region will replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, which President Aquino has described as “a failed experiment.”

Negotiators from both sides also signed the terms of reference for the Independent Commission on Policing.

The Sabah issue, Iqbal said, would not have a direct effect on the peace negotiations.

“The two governments - the Malaysian government and the Philippine government – are trying to resolve the issue as soon as possible,” the MILF official said.

There have been speculations that the Sabah crisis was a ploy by various groups that seek to sabotage the peace talks between MILF and the government.

Some critics, however, believe the conspiracy theory was floated by Malacanang to conceal the incompetence of the government in handling the issue.

The MILF said it has adopted a “no comment” policy on the crisis in Sabah.

The Sulu sultanate's followers led by Raja Muda Agbimuddin Kiram, brother of Sultan Jamaluk Kiram III, went to Sabah last month to assert their claim to the area, which they consider their ancestral land.

Violence erupted after the sultan’s followers refused to leave the area despite deadlines set by Malaysian government.

President Aquino has asked Kiram’s group to surrender but the sultanate followers refused, saying they would rather die than lose their honor.

Malaysian authorities claim more than 60 persons have died because of the clashes.