Brunei appoints new head of monitoring contingent

COTABATO CITY – The government of Brunei has appointed a new head for their ceasefire monitoring contingent in Mindanao.

Brig. Gen. Edgardo Gurrea, chairman of the government’s Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH), said Lt. Col. Ali Bin Hadji Sabar took over from Lt. Col. Moh’d Arifin the leadership of Brunei’s contingent in the International Monitoring Team (IMT) in simple rites here.

The IMT, composed of soldiers, policemen, sailors and airmen from Malaysia, Brunei, Libya, and a rehabilitation expert from Japan, has been helping enforce the ceasefire agreement between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) since 2003.

Arifin has completed his tour of duty as head of Brunei’s representatives to the IMT and has been ordered to return to his country for a new military post in the military.

Gurrea told Sabar during a courtesy call at the office of the GRP-CCCH yesterday that Brunei has been playing an active role in the enforcement of the ceasefire through its involvement in the IMT.