Terrorist attacks were claimed under the name Moro Islamic Liberation Front, even after the June 2001 peace agreement.  However, relations between MILF and the Philippine government have substantially improved since 2001.  On December 22, 2004, the two announced that they had formed a joint organization to clear the southern Philippines of criminal elements and operatives of two terrorist organizations, the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) and Jemaah Islamiyah (JI). This development is a clear indication that the peace agreement between MILF and the Philippine government is currently being respected.   <br /><p><br />Another round of peace negotiations between the MILF and the government of the Philippines to discuss ending the Muslim insurgency began in mid-April 2005 in Malaysia.  Issues to be discussed include "ancestral domain" and the natural resources present in rebel-held areas.  The MILF, which has now renounced terrorism, continues to deny accusations by the Philippine military that it is sheltering members of Jemmah Islamiyah (JI).  <br />

Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) -- Splinter Group
Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) -- Splinter Group

Libya's Muammar Qaddafi; Tun Mustapha, Chief Minister of the Malaysian state of Sabah; Iran

The Moro National Liberation Front's primary goal was the creation of an autonomous Muslim state in the southern Philippines.  The contested area was the two islands of Mindanao and Sulu Archipelago, which comprises approximately 13 Philippine provinces.  While the Philippines has a history of conflict between Christian and Muslim elements, the immediate backdrop to this terrorist rebellion formed in the 1950s.  The Philippine government encouraged Christian citizens to move to the island of Mindanao, one of the Philippines more abundant areas in terms of natural resources.  By the late 1960s, Christians had become the majority in Mindanao.  Tensions between the newly-arrived Christians and the comparatively poorer Muslim inhabitants emerged.  <P> Responding to these developments, Nur Misuari formed a Muslim advocacy group in the late 1960s called the Mindanao Independence Movement.  In 1972, Misuari recreated his advocacy group as an armed terrorist rebel organization and changed its name to the Moro National Liberation Front.  The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) emerged as a powerful terrorist group.  The group's membership numbered into the tens of thousands.  In the early to mid 1970s, the Moro National Liberation Front took control of large areas of Mindanao and Sulu.  Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos responded with military force, committing 80 percent of the country's military troops to the southern area.  <P> In 1976, the Moro National Liberation Front agreed to a 16-point accord with the Philippine government.  Concurrent with this accord, there was a referendum on autonomy for the southern islands in 1977.  By this time, the islands had a Christian majority and the goal of an autonomous Muslim state predictably failed to gain a majority vote.  The Moro National Liberation Front was shaken by the accord's failed results.  The MNLF's membership suffered and splinter rebel groups began to break away from the group.