PHILIPPINES : Two young boys walk past Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels, lined up in formation, during a rally in support of the peace signing agreement at Camp Darapanan in the town of Sultan Kudarat on the southern Philippine island of Mindan SULTAN KUDARAT, Mar 28 (AFP): Joyous shouts of "Allahu Akbar" echoed across the headquarters of the Philippines' biggest Muslim rebel group as a pact to end four decades of bloodshed was signed, but there were also fears war clouds had yet to pass.
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) ended its rebellion on Thursday when its leaders signed a deal in Manila with the government that would create a new, autonomous Muslim homeland in the southern Philippines.
Various armed Muslim groups have been fighting since the 1970s for an independent Islamic state or autonomous rule in the south, which they regard as their ancestral home, and the conflict has claimed tens of thousands of lives.
MILF leader Murad Ebrahim said at the signing ceremony the accord was the "crowning glory" of his organisation's struggle, and his troops at their main camp 900 kilometres (550 miles) to the south voiced similar jubilation.
Hundreds of rebels, wearing camouflage uniforms and pointing assault rifles to the sky, shouted "Allahu akbar", or "God is greater", as they watched the historic moment on a television screen in a grassy field.
Senior MILF commander Usop Pasigan, 65, said he took up arms at the age of 17 and had lost three brothers in the fighting. Now he just wants to be a farmer and for his son to be able to live a normal life.
"I hope my boy will be able to finish college and not be an MILF fighter, like me," Pasigan told AFP as he stood alongside many other elderly soldiers in their military fatigues.
© 2026 - All Rights with The Financial Express
