Philippines Announces Settlement With Muslim Separatist Movement

MALABANG, Philippines — The Philippine president and a rebel leader embraced Monday as they announced a settlement of their nation’s decades-long Muslim rebellion.

“We have agreed to end the war and restore peace,” Muslim rebel leader Nur Misuari said after the meeting, his first in 10 years with President Fidel V. Ramos. “This is a very momentous, very historic occasion. This will be written in the golden pages of history.”

A peace agreement will be signed in Manila on Sept. 2, Misuari said.

The two leaders met in Malabang, a southern fishing village that saw fierce fighting at the height of the Muslim secessionist rebellion, which has killed 120,000 people.

In a breakthrough in June, Misuari and government negotiators agreed to a preliminary pact to end the fighting, which has slowed economic development in the south.

Under the agreement, the rebel front will control a council that will oversee development projects in 14 southern provinces for three years.

Elections will then be held for an autonomous government covering any of the 14 provinces that vote to join a new Muslim region.

The rebels consider these provinces their traditional homeland, but generations of Christian settlers have come to dominate the region.

Many Filipinos have welcomed the pact, but tens of thousands have protested in southern cities where Christians are the majority, saying it gives the rebels too much power.