Libyan monitors for MILF talks due

The group of international observers monitoring the peace talks between the Philippine government (GRP) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) will be boosted by the arrival of a delegation from Libya tomorrow.

Libya’s contingent to the International Monitoring Team (IMT) will arrive tomorrow afternoon at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) aboard Qatar Airways Flight 644, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) announced yesterday.

The Libyan team is headed by Mohamed Mohamed Suwaisi, with Abubakar Ibrahim Wanis as the other member. They will be welcomed at the airport by Undersecretary Rodolfo Garcia, deputy adviser on the peace process; Musib Buat of the MILF technical committee, and Maj. Gen. Dato Zulkifeli bin Mohamad Zin, IMT head of mission.

The new arrivals will be briefed on the peace process, the GRP—MILF ceasefire agreement and the IMT before they fly to Cotabato City on Wednesday to join Malaysia’s 51-member contingent.

Malaysia’s mobile teams are already deployed in the cities of Iligan, Davao, Cotabato and Zamboanga.

In an earlier statement, the DFA said the arrival of Malaysia’s IMT contingent on Oct. 9 was an indication that a peace agreement was within reach.

DFA Undersecretary for Special Concerns Rafael Seguis said the IMT was organized with the support of Malaysia as the third party in the peace talks.

The deployment of the IMT is considered an integral part of the peace talks to ensure that both the government and the MILF are complying with the terms of their ceasefire agreement. The IMT will report on any encounter between government troops and MILF rebels. The teams are expected to stay in the country for at least a year.

Seguis said one of the items in the agenda of President Arroyo in her trip to Hanoi to attend the fifth Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) was to update the global community of the country’s peace efforts with insurgent groups such as the MILF.

Mrs. Arroyo had said her attendance at the meeting was an opportunity to inform members of the European Union (EU) about the progress of the peace process in Mindanao.

The EU has reportedly pledged 12 million euros to the Multi-Donor Fund for Mindanao set up through bilateral and multilateral agreements concluded by the Philippine government.

Seguis believes the participation of other member states of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) in the IMT will fast-track and ensure the success of the peace talks.

"The participation of the OIC countries will not only enhance our already fruitful relations with individual member states but will also definitely elevate such relations to a higher plane considering their sincere interest to contribute to the country’s peace and development efforts for Mindanao," he said.

The peace talks are scheduled to take place soon in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Malaysia, which serves as the facilitator for the negotiations, had previously sent an advance team to Mindanao to assess the situation in the areas where the IMT will be deployed.

Hopes were raised that an agreement will be signed with the MILF after the government met two of the three conditions set by the MILF for the resumption of peace talks. They were the pullout of troops from the Buliok complex, a former MILF-controlled territory in North Cotabato, and the dropping of criminal charges against a number of MILF leaders accused of involvement in terrorist bombings.

Seguis said the third condition set by the MILF, which seeks to identify the ancestral lands of the Muslims, was being addressed by the government. — Pia Lee-Brago