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The 37th Session of the Council of Foreign Ministersof the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC-ICFM) in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, AccordsOfficial Status to the MILF DelegationPrepared by

Maulana M. AlontoMember of the MILF (Moro) Delegation to the OIC Conference

          The 37th Session of the OIC-ICFM which was held in Dushanbe, Republic of Tajikistan,from May 17-20, 2010, ended on a high note of optimism and expectations as noted in thevarious resolutions it passed and approved at the end of the three-day session.  The OIC’s 57Muslim member-states believe that they can collectively and positively cope with and bringsolutions to the myriad problems and challenges now facing the Muslim Ummah.

          Significantly, this was the first time that the OIC-ICFM or the OIC in general held itsmeeting in Central Asia, and in Tajikistan at that, which is a landlocked nation-state andformerly a Soviet socialist republic with a 98% Muslim population. Tajikistan declared itsindependence in September 1991 when the break-up of the Soviet empire in the same yearbecame inevitable. Since then, it has returned to the Muslim World with which it identifies itselftoday.

         In this 37th Session of the ICFM, the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Tajikistan waselected the chairman. The beautiful city of Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, was declared theIslamic “Cultural Capital of Central Asia.”

          Among the urgent problems that were addressed at the session is the Question ofMuslims in Southern Philippines which the OIC-ICFM came out with in the form of DraftResolution No. 2/37-MM.  In said resolution, particularly items nos. 7 and 8 respectively, theOIC-ICFM states that it “welcomes the resumption of the negotiation between the Governmentof the Republic of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the agreement toestablish an international contact group…”; and “urges the MNLF and the Moro IslamicLiberation Front (MILF) to unite their efforts for the peace and development of the BangsamoroPeople  and requests the Secretary-General to continue to deploy  his good offices to bringthem closer and to enhance the coordination between them” as well as “Takes note of theinvitation of the Secretary-General of the representatives of the two fronts to convene apreparatory meeting between them, and welcomes the agreement of the MILF to participate inthe meeting and urges the MNLF to respond quickly to the invitation…”

          Earlier, the OIC Secretary General for the first time extended an official invitation to theMILF Chairman, Al Haj Murad Ebrahim, to the Dushanbe 37th OIC-ICFM session. The MILFChairman positively responded to this invitation by heading a 4-man MILF delegation toTajikistan. The three other members of the delegation are Said Abdulwahab, Mohandis Adnanand Maulana Alonto, all from the Central Committee of the MILF.

         The MNLF, in the person of its chairman, Prof. Nur Misuari, and one other companionbased in Qatar, also was in attendance.

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         It was the MILF delegation, however, that was accorded the official status as a delegationby the OIC-ICFM. It was officially referred to as the Moro Delegation. MILF Chairman Murad Ebrahim, as head of the Moro delegation, was extended all thecourtesies and privileges befitting his status as such, including a chauffeured Mercedes Benzlimousine for his use and a regular protocol officer from the Tajikistan Foreign Ministry as hisescort. The three members of his delegation were likewise provided with an official car. As withall the Foreign Ministers and heads of delegation the MILF chairman was also given a distinctsecurity identification lapel pin (bearing the symbol of the 37th OIC-ICFM symbol) – the samelapel pin that was provided to the Foreign Ministers and other heads of delegations - thatallowed him to attend all official functions (except for the closed-door Working Session exclusiveto OIC member-states only), including the dinner on the eve of the opening day given by theTajikistan President Imamoli Rahmanov at his private residence just outside Dushanbe,exclusively for the Foreign Ministers and heads of delegations with observer status attendingthe OIC-ICFM. Not even Prof. Nur Misuari, who used to head the MNLF delegation in the past,was given such a pin and/or the courtesies and privileges extended to Chairman Murad. In fact,Chairman Misuari and his sole companion only received their identification tags on the first dayof the session. The MILF delegates’ IDs and copies of the Programme were delivered to thehotel by the official protocol officer on the eve of the opening day.

          As head of the Moro delegation, Chairman Murad was interviewed by the Tajikistantelevision news network upon the arrival of and special reception for the Foreign Ministers anddelegations at the Dushanbe international airport at dawn of May 17. Another interview of himby a TV network was made on the second day of the session, May 19, at the venue of theOIC-ICFM meeting.

         The Moro delegation, both MILF and MNLF, was billeted at the Pochyackt Hotel atdowntown Dushanbe. Delegations with observer status were also accommodated in the samehotel.On the opening day of the session, May 18, Chairman Murad was made to occupy the seatreserved for the MNLF as official observer. Out of courtesy to Misuari, however, he voluntarilyvacated the seat and offered it to Misuari later on in the session. Chairman Murad also offeredMisuari to share the official limousine assigned to him but the Tajik protocol officer strictlyenforced the rule that only Chairman Murad can use the vehicle as the officially recognizedhead of the Moro delegation. This gesture of humility on the part of Chairman Murad impressedmembers of the OIC General Secretariat and the Tajik Protocol Officer.

         In the afternoon after the opening ceremony and the lunch break on the first day of thesession (May 18), Chairman Murad and Chairman Misuari were called to a closed-door specialmeeting by Ambassador Hassan El-Mesry and Ambassador Talal Douz, chairpersons of theOIC Minority Affairs. Ambassador El-Mesry holds the distinction of being the OIC Special Envoyto the Peace Process in Southern Philippines.

         The special meeting was held at the instruction of the OIC Secretary-General, HisExcellency Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, to the El-Mesry and Douz to bring together the MILF andMNLF chairmen to discuss the unity of the two Moro Fronts. Chairmen Murad and Misuari wereallowed one companion each from their respective delegations in the exclusive meeting.

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Chairman Misuari brought along his sole companion while Chairman Murad was accompaniedby Maulana Alonto.

To recall, it was the MILF that proposed to the OIC a year ago the unity of the two Frontsinclusive of the factions of the MNLF and sectors of the Bangsamoro people. This concept asproposed by the MILF brings Moro unity and representation in the international community,particularly in the OIC, to the level of a nation – the Bangsamoro nation. The MILF proposal assuch was very much welcomed by the OIC Secretary General who is hard pressed by thepersistent lobbying of the Philippine government among OIC member-states for an observerstatus seat in the OIC. If the Philippine government succeeds in attaining observer status, thelikelihood that it would replace the MNLF or Moro representation in that body for that matter,which still enjoys such a status, would be great. This was what happened to the Patani Muslimsof Southern Thailand who are deprived of a voice in the OIC because it is the Thai governmentthat sits at the OIC as observer. Similarly, the Chechen Muslims are deprived of representationin the OIC because it is the Russian government that has the observer status. 

        In that special meeting convened by the Ambassador El-Mesry, the two chairmen of theMoro Fronts agreed to the OIC’s proposal to unite and coordinate their efforts to advance theBangsamoro cause. Chairman Misuari was at first not keen on the idea of unity, citing severalreasons, including personal, for opposing it. But due to the persistence of El-Mesry and Douzand the logical arguments put forward by Chairman Murad, he finally relented and agreed. Forone, Misuari was made to realize that without Moro unity in purpose and in action - as arguedby the MILF - Moro representation in the OIC, in the light of the fragmentation of the MNLF intoseveral factions, stands the great risk of losing it to the Philippine government.

          As a result, thus, of that special meeting, an agreement for unity and coordination wasdrawn up by the OIC Secretary General for the two Front chairmen to sign. The unityagreement, wherein both parties are mandated to formulate the mechanism to animate suchunity and coordination through the facilitation of the OIC, was signed separately by the twoFront chairmen on the second day of the session, May 19.

         On the closing day of the OIC-ICFM, which was the third day and last day of the session,May 20, Chairman Nur Misuari was permitted to deliver a report to the OIC-ICFM on the resultof the tripartite meeting in Tripoli, Libya, wherein a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) wassigned between the MNLF and the Philippine government. When he, however, spoke beyondthe scope of his report, he was told by the Secretary-General of the OIC to cut short his speech.

         At the close of the session, the OIC Secretary-General reported and announced to theForeign Ministers and all delegations present the signing of the unity agreement between theMILF and MNLF chairmen.

         The MILF delegation, meanwhile, submitted a Report as well as a written Statement ofMILF Chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim to the OIC-ICFM General Secretariat. Copies of thesetwo documents were widely disseminated among the Foreign Ministers and the delegations.

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