Ban Ki-moon welcomes conciliation accord between Filipino government, muslim opposition

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has welcomed a tentative conciliation accord between the government of the Philippines and the mainstream Muslim opposition movement.Ban, in a statement issued by his office late on Saturday, hailed the signing, earlier in the day in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur, of the fourth and last annex to the 2012 "Government of the Philippines-Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro," and offered the UN assistance, if need be, at its final phase.The MILF has been fighting government forces for decades for an independent Islamic state in the southern Philippines to be named Bangsamoro. Tens of thousands lost their lives for the resource-rich territory.Ban commended President Benigno S. Aquino III and the MILF Chairman, Murad Ebrahim, for their "vision and leadership throughout this historic peace process," and congratulated their negotiating teams for their "perseverance, courage and commitment in having reached this important milestone" in the peace process. He also expressed his sincere gratitude to the national and international actors, in particular the Government of Malaysia, for their important role in the success of the negotiations.The completion of the negotiations paves the way for the signing in Manila next month of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement on the Bangsamoro.Ban expressed the UN readiness to accompany the final phase of the peace process and the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, "as the parties may find appropriate." According to media reports, the preliminary accord would pave way for a broad and sustainable settlement to end the bloody strife. The reports indicated at some understanding that government police might be deployed on the island and that disarming of the mainstream Muslim opposition group might be later examined.Malaysia has played a constructive mediation role that paved the way for the initial agreement.