US hails plan to end MILF insurgency

United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. AP FILE PHOTO

WASHINGTON—US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Sunday hailed a plan by the Philippine government and the country’s biggest Muslim rebel group to end a deadly decades-long separatist insurgency.

“This agreement is a testament to the commitment of all sides for a peaceful resolution to the conflict in the southern Philippines,” she said in a statement. “The next steps will be to ensure that the framework agreement is fully implemented.”

The agreement would see the establishment of a new semi-autonomous Muslim area in the resource-rich southern Philippine region of Mindanao, which the 12,000-strong Moro Islamic Liberation Front regards as its ancestral homeland.

Philippine President Benigno Aquino said the plan paves the way for a final and enduring peace. The conflict has killed more than 150,000 people.

The MILF hailed the breakthrough, which was achieved in the latest round of peace talks in Malaysia that ended on Saturday, as the “beginning of peace.”

Clinton said the United States would encourage “all parties to work together to build peace, prosperity and greater opportunities for all the people of the Philippines.”