Filipino Muslim rebels lay down arms to reinforce peace deal

The largest Muslim rebel group in the Philippines handed over dozens of assault weapons on Tuesday in a symbolic gesture to reinforce a peace pact stalled by a public outcry over the killings earlier this year of dozens of police commandos in a fierce battle with insurgents.

President Benigno Aquino III and Al Haj Murad Ebrahim, the leader of the 11,000-strong Moro Islamic Liberation Front, witnessed the handover of 75 assault weapons, including mortar and rocket launchers, by the guerrillas near a southern rebel stronghold, along with the identification of a first batch of 145 guerrillas, who agreed to return to normal life with promises of government support.

The autonomy deal, signed by the government and the rebels last year after yearlong talks brokered by Malaysia, was expected to be one of the major legacies of Aquino, a reformist leader whose six-year term ends next year. But the involvement of the Moro rebels in fierce clashes that killed 44 police commandos, who hunted and killed a top South-East Asian terror suspect on 25 January, ignited public criticism of the Moro insurgent group and the peace agreement.

The passage of a law in the Philippine Congress that would authorise the creation of a more powerful Muslim autonomous region in the country's south has been delayed. It is uncertain if the guerrillas would accept a watered-down version of the autonomy bill drafted by government and rebel representatives.

The uncertainty has led to fears that impatient guerrillas may return to violence. A few hundred rebels broke off from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front about five years ago when the main insurgent group pursued peace talks with Aquino's government. Murad said while Tuesday's event is about statistics for some people – 145 guerrillas and 75 firearms – "this is something deeply personal to us." "As I look at the faces of each of our 145 brothers here this morning, I see 145 stories of struggle, of pain, of hopelessness and even of death, yet I also see 145 stories of hope and faith that indeed peace is near and that all the sacrifices have been worth it," he said.

More than 120,000 combatants and civilians have died in the Muslim rebellion that has stalled progress in many resource-rich areas of the predominantly Roman Catholic nation's south, home to about 5 million Muslim Filipinos.   (AP)