Malaysian peacekeepers start pullout from Mindanao
abs-cbnnews.com | 05/10/2008 12:11 PM
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The Malaysian contingent in the International Monitoring Team (IMT) in Mindanao started its pullout Saturday as the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) reiterated its concern about its peace talks with the Philippine government.
Earlier, the MILF’s Central Committee on Information Web site, luwaran.com, said a Malaysian aircraft was set to arrive Saturday morning to pick up 28 members of the Malaysian security contingent to the IMT.
The report said the aircraft will first go to Davao City to pick up Malaysian monitors deployed at IMT Team Sites 4 and 5 in General Santos City and Davao City, respectively. The aircraft will then proceed to Cotabato City and Zamboanga City to get the other members of the contingent before it flies back to Malaysia Saturday afternoon.
The IMT was created to monitor the implementation of the ceasefire agreement between the MILF and the Philippine government.
Before the Malaysian peace monitors left, Vice-Chairman Ghazali Jaafar of the MILF Central Committee again raised the armed separatist group’s concern on the status of the peace process.
"Who can salvage the peace process now from brink of collapse?" Jaafar reportedly asked during a farewell program tendered for the outgoing members of Malaysia-led IMT.
Jaafar said the "IMT pullback prior to the completion of the Malaysian-facilitated peace process is a hard decision for Malaysia, but the MILF fully respects this decision because we believe it is right and principled one."
"It is difficult to see the Malaysian IMT contingent leaving us with the peace process remaining inconclusive and the possible renewal of hostilities looming in the horizon of Mindanao," he said.
MILF peace panel chair Mohager Iqbal preciously said that since the arrival of the IMT in Mindanao last 2004, the number of encounters between the Philippine military and MILF in the ground has dropped from almost a thousand to less than ten clashes.
The MILF official said it is possible that skirmishes may rise again once the Malaysians pull out from Mindanao.
The impending departure of the first batch of Malaysian monitors is the start of the phased withdrawal announced by Malaysian officials.
Malaysia's foreign minister earlier said his country will pull out its peacekeeping forces from the troubled Mindanao in a phased withdrawal beginning May 10.
Rais Yatim, who went on a two-day working trip to the Philippines, said his government was unable to continue with an unlimited deployment in the IMT, according to a foreign ministry statement released late Wednesday.
Rais said he hoped the Malaysian decision would "give an opportunity to both groups to reevaluate the issues under discussion in the context of the peace process," the statement added.
He said, however, that Malaysia was committed to helping resolve the Philippine situation.
On Wednesday, Rais met with Philippine President Arroyo and Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo following a call from Manila for Malaysia to continue to support the peace process in the country's south after its pullout.
Last month, Malaysia said it would not send more monitors for a 2003 ceasefire between Manila and separatist rebels in Mindanao once their current mandate expires in September.
Manila and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) struck an initial deal last November to create a Muslim homeland in the country's south but further talks have not been successful.
Malaysian troops have made up the bulk of an international team that has been monitoring the ceasefire since 2004. - With a report from Agence France Presse
