Philippines’ Duterte offers Muslim self-rule to counter IS

From left: Philippine Secretary of the Peace Process Jesus Dureza, Al-Hajj Murad, chairman of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and Ghazali Jaafar, vice chairman of MILF, join hands holding a proposed draft of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) during a ceremony at the Malacanang Palace in Manila on July 17, 2017. -AFP

MANILA: President Rodrigo Duterte offered self-rule to the Philippines’ Muslim minority on Monday in an attempt to defeat Islamist militants who seized a southern city in the gravest challenge to his year-old rule.

Duterte hopes the promise of autonomy will persuade Filipino Muslims to reject the Islamic State group, whose followers still control parts of Marawi after nearly two months of fighting that had left more than 500 people dead.