Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia‘s deputy prime minister said Thursday his country will extend its peace monitoring mission in the southern Philippines for another three months, but urged the Philippine government and Muslim rebels to accelerate their peace efforts.
‘‘We cannot keep our forces there indefinitely. We are hoping that both sides will reach some agreement in the near future,‘‘ Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak told reporters. ‘‘We are willing to continue to be the host for further talks to achieve the final political settlement.‘‘
Formal peace talks, brokered by Malaysia, have stalled since September 2006 over the size of the southern Philippine region that would fall under Muslim control as part of a peace deal as well as the sharing of the region‘s natural resources and governance.
Malaysia deployed a new 27-member monitoring team, including five policemen, this week to the main southern Philippine island of Mindanao, defense officials said.
The new team is the fourth sent by Malaysia to Mindanao to safeguard a 2003 cease-fire between the Philippine military and the rebel Moro Islamic Liberation Front, officials said.
Najib said the government will review the situation after the three-month period but pressed for a political solution to the conflict between Manila and the MILF, which has some 13,000 members fighting for self-rule.
The peace monitors also include troops from Brunei and Libya.
The truce, which has largely held, was shaken in July when 14 government marines were killed - 10 of them beheaded - following a clash with MILF guerrillas on the island province of Basilan.
That prompted the Philippine government and MILF to allow the international peace monitors to work in Basilan and other provinces, and to extend their tour of duty for another year.
Source: www.gmanews.tv (7 September 2007)