Philippines appoints new peace negotiator with Muslim rebels

Jun 27, 2007, 7:15 GMT

Manila - The Philippine government announced on Wednesday the appointment of a new chief peace negotiator with the largest Muslim secessionist rebel group in the country's troubled south.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has chosen retired army general Rodolfo Garcia to lead the government panel in peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Garcia, a member of the current peace negotiators with the MILF, will replace Silvestre Afable, who resigned earlier in the month due to personal reasons.

Ermita said Arroyo was to formally sign Garcia's appointment paper when she arrives in Manila late Wednesday after a four-day trip from Singapore and Equatorial Guinea.

The government earlier named a Roman Catholic priest to replace Afable, but later withdrew the appointment after the MILF expressed concern about having a non-cabinet member as head of the negotiating team.

Peace talks between the MILF and the government have been suspended since September 2006, when the two sides failed to agree on the size of a proposed Muslim homeland that would replace an existing autonomous region in the southern Philippines.

Despite the break, backdoor talks have continued and the two sides have hoped to resume formal negotiations in Malaysia in July.

The 12,000-strong MILF is the largest Muslim rebel group fighting for a separate Islamic state in the southern Philippines since 1978. It has agreed to discuss autonomy with the government in a bid to end decades of violent strife in the south.