Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Peace monitors have new head
THE new head of the Malaysian-led International Monitoring Team (IMT) arrived in Manila Monday and is scheduled to proceed to the IMT headquarters in Cotabato City Thursday.
Major General Dato Md Ismael bin Ahmad Khan was welcomed at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport by outgoing head of the IMT mission Major General Dato Pahlawan Soheimi bin Abbas.
Others present in the airport were Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Coordinating Committee for the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH) chairman Von al Haq, Philippine government CCCH chair Edgardo Gurrea, Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace Process Undersecretary Ramon Santos, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Kaday, Charge' de Affairs Wan Jaafar of the Malaysian Embassy in Manila, Defense Attache Colonel Hadi of the Malaysian Embassy, and Charge' de Affairs Colonel Taha of the Brunei Embassy in Manila.
Abbas will formally turn over the post on September 9 wherein various stakeholders and key players of the peace process between the government and the MILF will be present.
Khan will be leading the one-year tour of duty of the third batch of IMT members being composed of military and civilian officers from Malaysia, Brunei, Libya, Japan, and Sweden.
The contingents from Japan and Sweden, who will focus on relief and rehabilitation programs for the conflict affected communities, are expected to arrive before the year ends.
The IMT is a 60-men contingent composed of military and civilian officers that primarily oversee the implementation of the agreement on the general cessation of hostilities between the government and MILF pursuant to the Agreement of Peace signed by both parties on June 22, 2001.
Since the deployment of the IMT on October 10, 2004 led by Major General Dato Zulkifeli bin Mohd Zin, there has been a tremendous decrease on incidents of ceasefire violations.
A diminishing trend on cases of ceasefire violations was recorded during the stint of Abbas and that the cooperation, trust, and transparency between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and MILF particularly at the level of the ceasefire committees had evolved very commendably.
Both chairmen of the government-MILF ceasefire committee gave strong credit to the IMT for the positive developments happening at their level and at the ground.
Local and international communities especially the foreign donor institutions expressed high note and appreciation on the big and indispensable role and contribution of the IMT in sustaining the ceasefire on the ground, which is crucial in the proceedings of the peace talks. (BOT with Press release)
For Bisaya stories from Davao. Click here. (September 6, 2006 issue)
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