Asia-Pacific News
Philippine government, Muslim rebels resume peace talks
Dec 5, 2011, 8:19 GMT
Manila - A Philippine rebel group returned to the negotiation table Monday, after rejecting a government peace proposal in August.
The government made no indication that the deal had changed for Monday's talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
'Our proposed political settlement besides providing for a pragmatic framework workable within the next few years also provides a platform to pave the way for true deliberative democracy among all our peoples,' said Marvic Leonen, head of the government peace panel.
The guerrillas, thought to number around 12,000, did not release any statement Monday.
The MILF has been fighting for an independent Islamic state in Mindanao since 1978. It entered into peace negotiations with the government in 1997.
It has demanded a Muslim sub-state in Mindanao as a first step, a provision it said was lacking in the August proposal.
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