DESPITE a snag in the peace negotiations between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines, more and more countries have expressed their interest in joining the International Monitoring Team (IMT) now operating in Mindanao.
Latest to express their interest is the Government of Canada who formally declared its intention to join the Malaysian-led IMT when it reportedly sent a note verbale to the Philippine Government.
The report said a copy of that note verbale was furnished to the MILF peace panel, which in turn officially turned it over to the MILF leadership for proper disposition.
Canada is said to be interested on how the IMT operates especially on the aspect of governance. It was learned that Canada has similar problems in their country and would like to learn something from what the IMT here is doing to address the problem on armed conflicts.
At the moment, the countries of Malaysia, Brunei and Libya are focused on the ceasefire while Japan concentrates on the socio-economic component. A team from Sweden is also informally involved in the IMT and is focused on the “humanitarian” side of the monitoring.
Sweden is still not formally included in the IMT as both the GRP and the MILF parties still has not formally signed the necessary documents due to the impasse in the peace negotiations. (BOT)
