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Manila: The government will ask Muslim fighters to disarm and dismantle armed units when peace talks resume to preempt the possibility of hostilities once a final agreement is signed, a presidential peace adviser said on Tuesday.
A guarantee of this nature has become crucial because of recent attacks on civilian communities by three renegade Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) commanders who were apparently frustrated over issues in the negotiation process, Hermogenes Esperon said.
When the government signed a landmark 1996 peace accord with another group - the Moro National Liberation Front, which was the main Islamist rebel grouping in the southern Philippines at the time - there had been no provision for disarmament. National Front guerrillas retained their firearms and mounted attacks on troops after the accord was signed, Esperon said.
"That's one of the lessons learned," he said. "A final peace agreement must have terms on disarmament, demobilisation and rehabilitation."
President Gloria Arroyo said her government would urge former British prime minister Tony Blair and Sweden, which is currently helping with disarmament and rehabilitation efforts in the country, to step in with their expertise during talks with rebel groups.
Eid Kabalu, spokesman for the Islamic Front that is now the main rebel group in the south, said the guerrillas would only agree to give up arms when they could be sure a peace pact was being enforced in fairness.
"We won't agree to disarm anytime before that because that will be a surrender," Kabalu said.
"Disarmament and demobilisation should be the very last item on the agenda."
The 11,000-strong Islamic Front broke away from the National Front after it dropped a demand for a separate state in the southern Mindanao region.
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