Malaysia government's decision to pull out its monitoring team from the southern Philippines it's not due to non-progress in peace talks between the Government of Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
Lieutenant Colonel Baharuddin Bin Admad, head of Malaysia's International Monitoring Team's ceasefire monitoring team based in Zamboanga City, said yesterday that their upcoming withdrawal has nothing to do with the protracted GRP-MILF peace talks.
"It's a normal exercise to withdraw before the actual date because we are ending our mandate. Some of us will be pulling out and some will remain. This has nothing to do with the non-progress of peace talks.
Our task is only to ensure the implementation of ceasefire between the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the MILF and the peace talks could go on without any disturbance," he told local reporters.
Col. Admad, who headed a Malaysian ceasefire monitoring team of seven based at Western Mindanao Command (WesMinCom) headquarters, was speaking to reporters after a closed door meeting with Mayor Celso Lobregat at City Hall.
"It's time for us to leave, but we still maintain that monitoring force in Cotabato until the end of its mandate this August. We have fifteen teams, 14 will be pulling out and one team will remain, including a Libyan officer and the Brunei team," said Admad.
The Malaysian peace monitoring team has been in Mindanao since 2004, as part of the IMT, comprising 41 officers from the Armed Forces and the police, and supported by officers from few countries like Brunei, Libya and Japan.
Japan's tenure with the IMT ends on July this year. It has dispatched only one expert from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to the Malaysian-led peace monitoring team.
Asked if Japan's team will also pull out of the IMT, Col. Admad said "it's up to the Japanese government to decide whether it will pull out its team or not. They are still in Cotabato. They will remain until the end of August."
The IMT plays a critical role in supporting the peace negotiations between the Philippines and the MILF, and in continuing the momentum for the resolution of the conflict in the southern Philippines.
Members of civil society nationwide with individuals working for global peace affiliates had earlier called on Malaysia to reconsider its decision to pull-out its peace monitors that have successfully maintained a stabilizing presence in the south.
They said armed conflict in Mindanao has been greatly reduced since Malaysia began leading the peace mission and sponsored GRP-MILF peace negotiations, although they admitted the talks have been dragging on for years without tangible result.
But Col. Ahmad said "I think it's time for you people to go on trying to maintain the stability that we have created, but it all depends on the situation and how the government decides our extension. We're definitely going home we can't be here forever."
"Peace talks are not a thing that can be settled within a short period of time. So this is what normally happens…sometime they go on and sometime there are some breakdowns in the negotiations. We've to wait for sometime so that a better solution can be achieved," he adviced.
"The peace talks have progressed quite well except for some final detail that is still a stumbling block for the peace talks. Let that be decided by our principals on the talks, we are only here for the ceasefire violation," he concluded. (HG)
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