Filipino Muslims Welcome Peace Pact To Be Signed Between Gov’t And Muslim Lebel Forces

Filipino Muslim women march during a rally outside the Malacanang presidential palace in Manila, Philippines on Sunday Oct. 14, 2012. Philippine officials and rebels say about 200 Muslim guerrillas led by their elusive chief have arrived in Manila for the signing of a preliminary peace pact to end one of Asia’s longest-running insurgencies.

Filipino Muslims and members of the Philippine military join a fun run in support of a preliminary peace agreement between the government and the nation’s largest Muslim rebel group in suburban Quezon city, north of Manila, Philippines on Sunday Oct. 14, 2012. Philippine officials hope a preliminary peace deal the government recently clinched with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front will eventually turn the 11,000-strong insurgent group into a formidable force against the remnants of the Abu Sayyaf and other radicals, including several Indonesian and Malaysian militants believed to be taking cover in the southern Mindanao region.

Filipino Muslims place balloons on their head as they wait for the start of a fun run in support of a preliminary peace agreement between the government and the nation’s largest Muslim rebel group in suburban Quezon city, north of Manila, Philippines on Sunday, Oct. 14, 2012. <AP Photo/Aaron Favila>

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