Sudestasiatico.com

Manila, 12 March 2008 (AKI) - The Philippines largest separatist group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), is to attend the summit of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) but only as sub-member of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), a former rebel group that laid down arms in 1996.Some 60 member countries and observing organisations have confirmed their participation at the summit that will open in Dakar, Senegal, on Thursday.Despite being the torch bearer of the Muslim struggle for self-determination in the Philippines, the OIC still recognises the MNLF as the sole representative of the Moro - as the Filipino Muslims and indigenous people living in the southern part of the archipelago are called.The MILF, a breakaway group of the MNLF, is allowed to attend this year summit as an extended observer listed together with the MNLF. The invitation to the MILF was granted when MILF chairman, Al Haj Murad Ebrahim, met OIC secretary-general, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, last January.The OIC brokered the 1976 and 1996 peace agreements between the MNLF and Manila, and the MNLF has been holding observer status in the OIC since 1977.The MILF has, in the past, pushed for an individual recognition by the OIC, but has never asked the international Islamic body to mediate in the ongoing talks it is holding with Manila.The OIC’s summit will be held amid mounting anxiety within the Muslims communities triggered by caricature depicting prophet Mohammad reprinted in Denmark and a Dutch film which, Muslims say tags the holy Koran as ‘fascist’.Kosovo’s declaration of independence and conflicts in various Islamic countries would also be highlighted at the summit.The OIC, established in 1969, has today 57 countries as members. http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Religion/?id=1.0.1965349206