Truce monitors to set up offices

Iligan City — The international team tasked to monitor the ceasefire between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and help resolve conflicts, will soon put up offices in at least five cities in Mindanao.

According to H.D. Salah of the MILF, the members of the international monitoring team, led by Malaysia and composed of Libya, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Brunei and Bahrain, are expected to arrive next month.

While in Mindanao, the team will visit some MILF camps as part of its task and will put up offices in the cities of Cotabato, Zamboanga, General Santos, Davao and Iligan.

For its part, the Philippine government is reportedly preparing the facilities for the team’s offices in the five cities.

Last April, the team’s advance party, led by Malaysian Col. A. B. Zulkifli, visited some MILF camps in Mindanao, including Camp Busra, the largest MILF enclave in Butig, Lanao del Sur.

The setting up of the team’s offices in the five cities is seen to boost the peace talks between the government and the MILF, which will soon resume in Malaysia.