Malaysia won't abandon peace talks

MANILA, Philippines – Malaysia will not abandon its role as mediator in peace talks between the Manila government and Muslim guerrillas even as it proceeds with a plan to withdraw ceasefire monitors from the southern Philippines, Malaysia’s defense forces chief said yesterday.

Gen. Abdul Aziz Zainal did not clearly state the reason for the withdrawal, but Malaysian officials last week cited a lack of progress in the talks for its planned withdrawal of its truce monitors. They make up the bulk of a 60-man international contingent credited with preventing major fighting in southern Mindanao region the last four years.

There have been concerns that the planned withdrawal of Malaysian monitors could threaten a 2003 ceasefire, spark new clashes or encourage al-Qaeda-linked militants to launch attacks to sabotage the already-stalled peace negotiations.

Abdul Aziz, who arrived in the Philippines Wednesday, said he will discuss with Philippine officials the withdrawal of the Malaysian truce monitors but stressed in a news conference Thursday that Malaysia will continue to broker the talks between Manila and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

“It doesn’t mean that we are abandoning the peace process,” Abdul Aziz told reporters.

After a legal mandate by the Philippine government and rebels authorizing the presence of the foreign truce monitors expires in August, Abdul Aziz suggested Malaysia would still be willing to help safeguard the 2003 ceasefire somehow in a “new format.”

The International Monitoring Team (IMT) also includes peace monitors from Libya and Brunei.

“I do not know what would be the new format but certainly we are committed to the peace process in Mindanao, it could be a new format as I said, there could a reduction in force or the mix or combination of the international monitoring team, that could be further negotiated because we have provided the platform for the peaceful process to continue and we are looking at maybe a new format to hasten the peace process,” Aziz said.

He said there could be talks to determine how Malaysia can continue to help to preserve the ceasefire in the future.

Abdul Aziz rejected fears that the Malaysian monitors’ withdrawal could lead to violence, saying Filipinos have grown used to the absence of fighting, which have considerably dropped from up to 700 clashes a year in the past to just 15 last year.

“After four years, they don’t even remember about fighting anymore,” he said. “They wouldn’t like to go back to the old days when they were fighting.”

Philippine military chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon, who met with Abdul Aziz, said the Malaysian general will separately meet Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro and chief of the government peace panel Rodolfo Garcia. – AP, James Mananghaya