New IMT chief arriving in RP today

ZAMBOANGA CITY — The new chief of the Malaysian-led international monitoring team (IMT) overseeing the truce between the military and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Mindanao is arriving this afternoon in Manila, the Office of the Presidential Adviser of the Peace Process (OPAPP) reported yesterday.

Major General Ismail bin Ahmad Khan, of the Royal Malaysian Army, will be the chief of the third batch of the combined multinational civilian and military personnel monitoring the situation in southern Philippines.

Khan will succeed outgoing IMT head Major General Pahlawan Soheimi bin Abbas.

Soheimi, Undersecretary Ramon Santos of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP), Senior Foreign Affairs Adviser Leonides Caday, and the chairmen of the Joint Coordinating Committees on the Cessation of Hostilities (JCCCH), Brig. Gen. Edgardo Gurrea and Von Al Haq will welcome Khan at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

They will pay courtesy calls to some government agencies before the formal turn over of duties in Cotabato on Friday.

At least 30 members of the second batch of Malaysians in the IMT in Mindanao had started leaving for Kuala Lumpur last Aug. 18, ending their one-year tour of duty in southern Philippines. They served the IMT headquarters and mobile offices in Cotabato and four other cities including Iligan, Zamboanga, General Santos, and Davao.

Fellow Malaysians from their Army, Air Force, Navy, police, and socio-economic department will replace them.

The presence of the IMT has helped the implementation of the ceasefire between the military and the MILF and prevents hostility from breaking out. — Roel Pareño