|
Friday, May 02, 2008
Malaysian gov't vows to continue help in RP-MILF peace talks
MANILA -- The chief of the Malaysian Armed Forces on Thursday assured that his government will continue facilitating the peace negotiations between the Philippine government and the secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
Following a meeting with Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief Hermogenes Esperon Jr. at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City, Malaysian military chief Tan Sri Abdul Aziz also stressed that Malaysian peace monitors in Mindanao would be pulled out starting September 1.
Arroyo Watch: Sun.Star blog on President Arroyo
The Malaysian peace monitors are leading the International Monitoring Team (IMT) whose mandate is to oversee the standing ceasefire agreement forged by the government and the MILF several years ago, prior to the possible signing of a final peace accord.
Aziz said while they are pulling out their peace monitors in the South, this does not mean that the Malaysian government is also abandoning its role as the broker of the peace talks which started about 11 years ago.
"The peace process will continue. As far as Malaysia is concerned, we are not abandoning the peace process in the South. What we are trying to say here is that the term for the IMT would expire by end of August this year," he said.
"But it doesn't mean that we are abandoning the peace process because the peace process is divided into teams, one with the IMT, the ceasefire committee and the other one is the peace facilitator. So Malaysia will continue to take on the commitment towards the peaceful process of Mindanao," said Aziz.
Aziz said his visit was aimed at discussing the details of the withdrawal of the Malaysian peacekeepers who have been in Mindanao since 2004 and have since been a factor in the restoration of peace in the area.
But he hinted that Malaysians would be deployed in the near future after the withdrawal of their troops.
"There could be a new format of the IMT after August 31 that would be negotiated between both governments," he said.
When asked to elaborate on the reconfiguration of the deployment of the IMT, Aziz said: "I do not know what would be the new format but certainly we are committed to peace process in Mindanao, it could be a new format."
"There could a reduction in force or the mix or the combination of the IMT that could be further negotiated because we have done, we have provided the platform for the peaceful process to continue and we are looking into maybe new format as to hasten the peace process," he added.
The Malaysian military chief said the IMT indeed has been a factor in the restoration of peace in Mindanao but said Malaysians' withdrawal would not spark violence.
Representatives of Libya, Brunei and Japan in the IMT will continue doing their mandate.
"The IMT had been very effective," he said, noting the decline of hostilities between government and MILF forces since the arrival of the IMT in 2004.
"Since we were there, the number of incidents reduced tremendously," he said.
On the fears of some sectors that violence will erupt with the pullout of the Malaysians, Aziz said: "I don't think such thing would happen. I'm sure they (people) wouldn't like to go back to the old days when they were fighting, we are very confident that the situation will continue to improve." (VR/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Davao. (May 2, 2008 issue)
Write letter to the editor. Click here. |
|
|
|
[return to top]
[home]
|
|
Workers pay hike known in 2 weeks