In a renewed bid to ensure the success of the peace talks, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has called on the international community to actively support the GRP-MILF peace talks not only in its socio-economic components but more on the political aspect. Muhammad Ameen, head of the MILF Secretariat, told Luwaran by phone that the participation of the international community is crucial in the success of the peace talks by way of a constructive engagement with both the government and the MILF.

“They can be effective stabilizers especially if one or the two Parties feel resorting to more radical approach,” he asserted, adding that the world needs real peace in his part of the globe.
 
He said the international community can also play an active but non-partisan role that could push the Parties to adopt flexible negotiation positions leading to more and more understanding or even concessions to each other, even as he emphasized in unmistakable term that the role of Malaysia as the facilitator shall not be infringed in any manner.

He said that Malaysia, acting as go-between the MILF and the government, has yielded much result to the satisfaction of the Parties.

He explained that the development projects being implemented in the conflict-affected areas (CAAs) in Mindanao by Japan, the United States, and other donor countries and the World Bank are good and welcomed development but can boomerang if the political aspect of the talks stagnates.

For more than one year since September 2006, the talks have been in impasse owing to the widely diverging positions of the government and the MILF, which almost sent them to war on various occasions.

Already yielding a helping hand to the talks, in various shades, are Malaysia, Libya, Brunei, Japan, Canada, Sweden, the United States, and the European Union.

So far, the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) has not taken a direct hand in the 10-year old GRP-MILF Peace Talks, which analysts attributed to the fact that it facilitated the GRP-MNLF Peace Talks and the signing of the GRP-MNLF Final Agreement on September 2, 1996.

Meanwhile, the MILF has not given up on seeking the support of Saudi Arabia, which is a very influential member of the OIC.

The MILF believes that once Saudi Arabia supports the current peace talks in Mindanao, it is as good as getting the support of the OIC.

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