Sweden, Canada eye role in Mindanao peace talks

Sweden and Canada were considering joining a bloc of nations backing peace talks aimed at settling a bloody Muslim rebellion in the southern Philippines, officials said Thursday.

The expressions of support come despite a months-long impasse in the Malaysian-brokered talks between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which has been involved in a decades-old conflict for self-rule in the southern Mindanao region.

Sweden and Canada have expressed interest in joining the International Monitoring Team, a Malaysian-led contingent that primarily safeguards a 2003 ceasefire and prevents occasional clashes from escalating and impeding the talks, presidential peace talks adviser Jesus Dureza said.

Sweden would like to provide humanitarian and post-conflict assistance, he said.

Dureza said government and rebel negotiators recently decided to accept Sweden into the IMT. Chief rebel negotiator Mohaghar Iqbal said both sides have to formalize Sweden’s participation when both sides resume their talks.

"This is like putting many umbilical cords to the peace process," Dureza told The Associated Press. "We really welcome foreign support that would help us forge a final peace agreement."

A Foreign Ministry spokeswoman in Stockholm, Marie Sjolander, said Sweden was considering to support the IMT but clarified that no formal decision had been taken.

"We’re considering supporting surveillance of the ceasefire agreement in the Philippines, but this is something we’re discussing at the moment and we haven’t taken a decision on it yet," she said. "It’s too early to say in what way we would do this because we have yet to decide whether we will support it."

Malaysia, along with Brunei and Libya, contributes about 60 peacekeepers. Japan joined last year to provide funding for economic projects.

A Canadian Embassy official also met rebel leaders recently in southern Cotabato city to express Ottawa’s desire to join the team to help improve governance in Muslim-majority areas, Iqbal said, adding Canada’s application will be discussed when the talks resume.

Canadian Ambassador Peter Sutherland told reporters late Wednesday that his government wanted to help foster hope among Filipinos long entrenched in areas of conflict.

A disagreement over the size of an area where Filipino Muslims could exercise a measure of control over land, resources and governance halted the latest round of negotiations last September.

Manila has submitted a proposal to break the impasse and Muslim guerrillas were studying it. Both sides could meet in an "exploratory meeting" in the near future to discuss details of the proposal, Dureza said.

The Philippine and US governments hope that an agreement with the MILF could transform its vast rural strongholds into hubs of economic growth instead of just conflict zones that could be used to harbor al-Qaeda-linked militants.

Military officials have often accused the MILF of providing sanctuary to members of the Abu Sayyaf extremist group and Indonesian-based Jemaah Islamiyah. The MILF has denied any links.

The MILF, which the military says has 11,000 fighters, has been battling for self-rule for more than two decades in Mindanao, home to minority Muslims in the predominantly Roman Catholic Philippines. — AP