Manila's chief negotiator with Muslim rebels quits

The Philippines' chief negotiator with Muslim separatists has resigned and a new man has been chosen for the post, the government said on Saturday, raising doubts about the resumption of talks in Malaysia next month.
Silvestre Afable's resignation came at a time when the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) were close to restarting talks on a proposed ancestral homeland for 3 million Muslims in the south of the country.
"This is a setback," Mohaqher Iqbal, the rebels' chief peace negotiator, told Reuters in a telephone interview. "This is not a very good indication. This could affect the entire peace process. At a personal level, we could be starting all over again."
Chief government spokesman Ignacio Bunye confirmed Afable had resigned after sources on the government peace panel told Reuters about the development. "We confirm that Secretary Afable has resigned and has discussed the matter with President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo," Bunye said.
Jesus Dureza, an adviser to Arroyo, said a Catholic priest who is also an Islamic scholar would replace Afable. "The assumption of Father Eliseo Mercado as the new panel chair will ensure a seamless transition and a continuity in government efforts to move forward the peace process with the MILF," Dureza said.
Mercado is the former president of the Notre Dame University in the southern Philippines and has served in the Vatican and also studied in Cairo's Al-Azhar University. But analysts said he was perceived as pro-MILF and may not enjoy the backing of the powerful military.
"He's an outsider," Abhoud Syed Lingga, executive director of the Institute of Bangsamoro Studies in Cotabato City, told Reuters. "The chief negotiator should be someone who enjoys the support of the president and more political clout to make the military toe the line."
The government officials gave no reason for Afable's decision to quit the peace panel, where he has served since the two sides agreed to return to negotiations after hostilities erupted in February 2003.
But one of his colleagues on the panel told Reuters: "He was getting frustrated because he was not getting enough support from the president and from her security officials. "He felt there were some people in the Cabinet who were not serious in finding a lasting solution to the Muslim rebellion in the south."
The government has been talking with Muslim rebels to end nearly 40 years of conflict that has killed more than 120,000 people and displaced 2 million in the south of the mainly Roman Catholic country.
Talks over the size and wealth of a proposed Muslim homeland have been stalled since September 2006 although backroom negotiations continued, resulting in a breakthrough in December when Manila agreed to grant Muslims the right of self-determination.
Talks were set to resume in Malaysia in July, negotiators have said. A Malaysian official familiar with the peace process said it was too early to say if Afable's resignation would affect the talks. "He has been very effective in building trust with MILF leaders," the Malaysian official told Reuters, referring to Afable. "He has contributed a lot in narrowing the gap and has deep understanding of the complexity of the process."