By EDD K. USMAN
April 26, 2010, 2:23pm
TRIPOLI -- The Leader of the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Col. Muammar al-Gadhafi has always stressed in his meetings with Moro leaders that they should remain within the realm of the Philippine society and sovereignty, said Ambassador Salem Muhammad Adam, former Libyan envoy to the Philippines.
Adam said this has been the repeated message of Gadhafi when he granted an audience in the past to leaders of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
He said this has not changed.
Adam spoke with the Manila Bulletin after the signing last April 20 of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Manila Government and the MNLF at the restrictive Islamic Call College (ICC), about 30 minutes from downtown Tripoli.
"The Leader (Gadhafi) has always been keen to (help) bring peace and stability to Mindanao. The leaders of the MNLF and the MILF, and even (representatives of) the Philippine Government had audience with the Leader two or three times. And the Leader has always given his guidelines to Filipino Muslims to stay within the realm and sovereignty of the Philippines. And on the other side, the Philippine Government should respect the rights of the Muslims," said the former ambassador now working at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as adviser to the Asian Affairs Department.
Adam recalled that Gadhafi, who masterminded the Al-Fateh Revolution on September 1, 1969, that toppled the monarchy of King Idris, even suggested that a Muslim could one day become president of the Philippines.
Adam presided over the April 20 signing of the MOU which the Libyan Government hosted. The event was under the auspices of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) through its Peace Committee for Southern Philippines (PCS) chaired by Indonesia.
The Libyan official, who served twice as ambassador to the Philippines, cited the continuing role of Gadhafi and his government in the search for peace in Mindanao.
It was Gadhafi who was the first Islamic and Arab leader to come to the assistance of the Moros in the early 1970s after the March 18, 1969 Jabidah Massacre on Corregidor Island.
"The Leader talked to President (Ferdinand) Marcos and asked him to stop the massacres of Muslims. Immediately, the OIC formed the Committee of Four composed of Libya, Saudi Arabia, Senegal and Somali for a fact-finding to the Philippines in 1975. In 1976, MNLF leaders and Philippine Government officials came to Tripoli and signed on December 23 the Tripoli Peace Agreement," said Adam.
Without Libya peace would not have come to Mindanao, he said.
He said the 1976 peace treaty has now become the mother of all peace accords that came later, such as the 1986 Jeddah Accord and the 1996 Jakarta Agreement (or the Final Peace Agreement).
Adam lauded the signing of the MOU which serves to continue the tripartite review of the FPA agreed during the administration of President Fidel V. Ramos.
"We are very happy that both sides under the auspices of the Committee of Twelve (PCSP) of the OIC were able to finally sign the Memorandum of Understanding as a new mechanism for the full implementation of the 1996 peace agreement...with the hope (the Philippine) Congress will help for the benefit of not only Muslims, but also Christians and Indigenous People," said Adam.
http://www.mb.com.ph/node/254611/gadhafi-reject
