COTABATO CITY—Government and Moro rebel negotiators managed to break the impasse in the peace negotiations following two days of informal talks in Kuala Lumpur, government and rebel sources said yesterday.
Eid Kabalu, civil-military affairs chief of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), said the panels had managed to hurdle the contentious issue on territory.
No details
Retired Gen. Rodolfo Garcia headed the government panel that met with the MILF team, led by Mohagher Iqbal since Tuesday.
But Kabalu declined to give details on how the problem was solved.
“Basically, that’s the result of their meeting. As to how they were able to break it, we will know when both parties formally issue their joint statement,” Kabalu said.
With the deadlock broken, formal negotiations may resume next month, he said.
“It was a breakthrough,” Jesus Dureza, presidential adviser on the peace process, also said when asked about the result of the Kuala Lumpur talks.
New entity
Dureza said both sides agreed on some models for the geographical composition of the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE). But he declined to give specifics, saying these would be tackled during the resumption of formal talks next month.
The MILF has demanded the inclusion of at least 1,000 villages in the BJE without any precondition, but the government said only about 600 villages could be provisionally included in the Moro territory.
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