World Bulletin / News Desk

Philippines President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said in a speech to the U. N. General Assembly on Tuesday, "We will restart the dialogue when the area is "secure", our people are safe and responsible elements in the MILF regain control."

The Philippines' largest Muslim group, Moro Islamic Liberation Front, appealed recently to the international community to help bring the government and its members back to the negotiating table and end attacks in the south.

The peace talks would be refocused from centering on talking to the MILF members to what Arroyo called "authentic dialogues with the communities."

"The context of our engagement with all armed groups shall subscribe to the principle of demobilization, disarmament and reintegration," she said.

Manila would host the first special ministerial meeting on interfaith dialogue for cooperation and development next year.

Yesterday, a senior official said the Philippines wants the United Nations to label at least a dozen members of the country's largest Muslim group as "terrorists".

However, the MILF said the government's move could help them clear the situation.

"It's a welcome development," Mohaqher Iqbal, MILF chief peace negotiator, told Reuters. "The United Nations would finally hear our side. I hope the MILF would be given a chance to defend itself when the government brings a case against our people."

Iqbal said on Sunday more fighting would most likely happen at the end of the fasting month of Ramadan if the military were to continue attacks against its forces in Mindanao.

The Ramadan is expected to end on Sept. 30, when the new moon is sighted.

"The possible declaration of Jihad by religious leaders is part of their personal views. In the MILF, we have been launching Jihad since we started our organization but we are now negotiating with the government," Iqbal said.

The call for unity and Jihad among Muslims came out after soldiers attacked MILF fighters in Calanugas, Lanao del Sur, while doing their Iftar (breaking of fast) on Thursday.

The 11,000-member Muslim group has been battling for nearly 40 years to achieve self-determination in the south.

Philippine attacks has continued despite Ramadan, Islam's holy month, on Sept. 1.

The Philippines, an archipelagic country located in the western Pacific Ocean, has a population of 90 million people. The population of Muslims is about 12 million. Between the years 1450 and 1515, two Islamic principalities were founded on the islands of Sulu and Mindanao.

After four decades of armed conflict between the Filipino state and the Moro Muslims, the two parties agreed to sign an agreement that would end the conflict. However, the supreme court of the Philippine declared the agreement illegal on August 4, which caused the conflict to resume. During the ongoing clashes over Muslims were killed and over 250,000 were displaced. The displaced families are staying in tents pitched on marshlands and are trying to practice the fasting of Ramadan.