ZAMBOANGA CITY, 22 August 2007 — Government negotiators yesterday sought a postponement of this week’s peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), to the dismay of the separatist group.

Retired general Rodolfo Garcia, the government’s chief negotiator said, a military offensive in the south against Muslim militants was not the reason for the postponement of negotiations, which had been scheduled to begin today in Malaysia.

“I did request for a new date next month so I would have more time to refine our position,” Garcia told Reuters, adding the government had no intention of abrogating the negotiations.

“I have to admit there were some residual issues that have to be resolved within the government side. I want a more solid and concrete position before I would sit down and unveil our package on the table. I needed more time to fine tune our position.”

Garcia declined to comment on reports that there were conflicting views on the peace process within the government of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, saying it was normal to have debate among members of the cabinet on certain policies and issues.

“I don’t want to face the other side on the table without any mandate from my principal. It was useless to meet with nothing substantial to discuss with the MILF,” he said.

Garcia said the talks, which were expected to focus on an autonomy package for the rebels, would be held before the start of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan on Sept. 13.

MILF leaders said the postponement came as a surprise.

“We were really caught unawares by the government’s decision to cancel the peace talks. The problem now is not with the MILF, not even Malaysia but the Philippine government,” Mohagher Iqbal, the chief MILF peace negotiator, told Arab News.

It was the second time the peace talks have been canceled by the Filipino government. It also postponed a scheduled peace talks in May because of national elections.

Malaysia is brokering the peace talks, but negotiations ended last year in Kuala Lumpur with no concrete agreement. Both sides failed to agree on the most contentious issue — ancestral domain.

Ancestral domain refers to the rebel demand for territory that will constitute a Muslim homeland. It is the single most important issue in the peace negotiations before the rebel group can reach a political settlement.

Iqbal said the Manila did not submit its guidelines for the resumption of the peace talks that led to its cancellation. He said there is a need to resume the peace talks and tackle the issue on ancestral domain.

The ancestral domain covers the whole of Muslim autonomous region and other areas in Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga Sibugay, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Sarangani provinces where there are large communities of Muslims and indigenous tribes, and Palawan Island incentral Philippines._

Government peace negotiators previously offered the MILF the Muslim autonomous region, which is composed of Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi which are among the poorest in the country torn by strife and clan wars since its creation in 1989.

The MILF rejected the offer, saying, it would not settle for anything less than total Muslim control over those areas.

“Our position remains,” Iqbal said.

The Organization of Islamic Conference, which is supporting the peace talks, also sent dozens of truce observers to Mindanao.

The group is composed of soldiers and policemen from Brunei, Libya and Malaysia. Japan also sent a representative to join the truce observers, but Iqbal said their stay would end next month unless peace negotiators renewed an accord that would allow them another year.

“We want to resolve the problems affecting Mindanao peacefully and this can only be achieved through the peace process, but if the Philippine government decides to pull out from the peace negotiation, then we will have to evaluate the situation and adapt measures relative to the MILF as a revolutionary organization,” Iqbal said.

Peace talks between the government and MILF started in January 1997, but the absence of a neutral third party bogged down the initiative.

President Arroyo opened up peace talks with the MILF in 2001 and signed a cease-fire agreement, but despite the truce fighting still continues with the two sides accusing each other of breaking the accord.