Philippines prepares for historic peace deal - Features - Al Jazeera English:
Cotabato City, Philippines - Weeks before Benigno Aquino III was elected president of the Philippines in 2010, the rebel group Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) hosted a secret meeting with a high-ranking US embassy official and two American dignitaries. The impending national elections and the stalled peace talks in the southern Philippines dominated dinner conversation. Discussing the leading candidate for the presidency, one unimpressed rebel leader said the peace talks were "too complicated for Senator Aquino to understand".
Some factions in the Muslim-dominated areas of Mindanao say they have been excluded from peace talks [Ted Regencia/Al Jazeera]
