Malaysia sees RP-MILF pact

COTABATO CITY — Malaysian Foreign Affairs Minister Dato Sri Syed Mohammad Albar expressed optimism that the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) could finally forge a peace pact before the year ends.

Even as Malaysia is trying its best to broker a peace deal between the Philippine government and the MILF, Albar emphasized no timetable had been given for the completion of negotiations.

"We can’t have (a) timeline. We have to support the peace talks," Albar stressed.

On a visit here yesterday, Albar said their government is content with the conduct of the international monitoring team (IMT) in overseeing the ceasefire agreement being implemented in Mindanao.

The Malaysian-led IMT is helping normalize the situation in hostile areas to complement the peace negotiations.

Led by Malaysian army Gen. Dato Zulkefili, the 60-man IMT has been helping in the enforcement of the ceasefire agreement since last year.

Albar held a brief dialogue with members of the IMT, representatives of the MILF, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the military.

He described as "constructive" the result of the IMT’s involvement in guaranteeing the cordiality of the GRP-MILF peace talks.

"As a result, the environment is now good for the peace talks, good for the GRP, the MILF and the people," Albar said, referring to IMT’s role in helping promote confidence between the government and MILF’s peace panels.

Albar earlier met his counterpart Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo in Mactan to reiterate Kuala Lumpur’s commitment to host peace talks between Manila and the MILF on April 16-18.

Albar is representing Malaysia in the Ministerial Committee of Eight of the Organization of Islamic Conference. The OIC committee is helping Manila secure a peaceful settlement of the Muslim separatist conflict in Mindanao.

The peace talks between the Philippine government and the MILF began on Jan. 7, 1997, but were repeatedly stalled by hostilities between government troops and MILF guerrillas in areas now covered by the truce signed in 2003.

The 12,000-member MILF has been waging a separatist rebellion for an independent Islamic state in Mindanao since 1978 but opened preliminary peace talks with the government in 2003.

Albar told Romulo that the presence of al-Qaeda-linked militants in Mindanao should not threaten the peace negotiations.

Security analysts around the region have expressed fears that the Jemaah Islamiyah, regarded as al-Qaeda’s Southeast Asian chapter, was increasingly liaising with Muslim militants in Mindanao to carry out a wave of bombings.

US Embassy Chargé d’Affaires Joseph Mussomeli had warned that Mindanao was becoming a "mecca" for Islamic militants and could become the next Afghanistan. — With AFP