Malaysia Praises Peace Process In Mindanao

Malaysia Deputy Defense chief Dato Hj Zainal Abidin Bin Hj Zin gestures during a meeting Sunday 09 April 2006 with Southern Philippines military commander Maj. Gen. Gabriel Habacon in Zamboanga City. (Zamboanga Journal)

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Zamboanga Journal / 09 Apr) Malaysian Deputy Defense Minister Dato Hj Zainal Abidin Bin Hj Zin on Sunday praised the peace talks between the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the country's largest Muslim separatist rebel group in the southern Mindanao island.

"Malaysia is optimistic about the peace process and how things are going on in Mindanao as far as the peace talks are concerned, and we are optimistic that a peace agreement will be signed soon. We are in the right path," Zainal said.

Zainal arrived in Zamboanga City where he met with Southern Command military commander Maj. Gen. Gabriel Habacon and inspected members of the Malaysian cease-fire observers, who are part of an international group deployed in Mindanao.

Zainal briefly spoke with about a dozen other Filipino security officials and shaking their hands one by one and joked with them while at the Southern Command, also home to a small contingent of Malaysian truce observers.

The head of 56-man international cease-fire observer, Malaysian Maj. Gen. Dato Pahlawan Soheimi Bin Abbas, said that both sides have been faithfully respecting the cease-fire agreement. The cease-fire group is made up of Malaysia, Libyan and Brunei, all influential members of the Organization of Islamic Conference.

Zainal earlier met with the leader of the MILF, Al Haj Ibrahim Murad, at a rebel camp in Sultan Kudarat town in Maguindanao province.

"I am convinced that the prospect of peace between the Philippine government and the MILF is significantly enhanced by the success of the impending cease-fire agreement," Zainal said, adding, they would like to see the restoration of complete peace in Mindanao.

"We have no other intention except to see a peaceful and progressive Mindanao because Malaysia’s policy is to see its neighbors grow under a peaceful atmosphere," he said.

Malaysia is currently brokering the peace talks between the Manila and the MILF. President Gloria Arroyo opened peace negotiations with the MILF in 2001 in an effort to end more than three decades of bloody fighting in Mindanao.

The Malaysian-led IMT is composed of 56 military officers from Malaysia, Brunei and Libya. Its primary task is to monitor the implementation of the ceasefire agreement between the GRP and the MILF.

Habacon said the military is supporting the government peace process and wanted the talks to succeed. "We are for peace and the military is supportive of the government peace process. We are also optimistic that both sides would be able to sign a peace agreement and work together for the development of Mindanao," he said.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on Thursday praised the United Nations for the $27 million food aid program to Mindanao in support to Manila's effort to end the long strife in the southern region.

Many Arab countries, including the Organization of Islamic Conference and the World Muslim League, are strongly supporting the peace process.

President George W. Bush also offered as much as $30 million to help develop Mindanao once the MILF seals a peace agreement with Manila. The money will be used to help the rebels return to the mainstream of society.

The United Nations World Food Programme (UNWFP) on Thursday said plans are underway to start the food aid operation in Mindanao to assist more than two million people from poor and conflict-torn communities, especially families displaced by the violence and former former combatants.

It aims to support the peace process between the Arroyo government and the MILF by providing tangible assistance to civilians in the areas affected by the conflict, where poverty, nutrition and education levels are far worse than anywhere else in the country.

President Gloria Arroyo last week appealed for aid from international donors to help hasten the peace process in Mindanao. She said the peace talks are on their final stage and that negotiators are expected to sign an agreement before the year ends.

The UNWFP said the one year operation has a budget of US$27.2 million, but the amount of actual assistance provided will depend on donor response.

Last month, Tokyo announced the first major contribution of US$1.2 million for the Mindanao programme as part of their aid package to UNWFP's operations addressing peace building activities.

Mindanao is home to about 14 million Christians and Muslims, and at least 18 other indigenous tribes. It is also a stronghold of the MILF, the country's largest Muslim separatist rebel group fighting for the establishment of a strict Islamic state in Mindanao.

The UNWFP said the one year operation has a budget of US$27.2 million, but the amount of actual assistance provided will depend on donor response. Last month, Tokyo announced the first major contribution of US$1.2 million for the Mindanao programme as part of their aid package to UNWFP's operations addressing peace building activities.

The World Bank also said it was preparing a $50-million international development assistance package for Mindanao, but the aid would be disbursed only after a peace agreement is signed between the Filipino government and the MILF.

Last year the United Nations Development Program and the European Commission agreed to carry out an 18-month rehabilitation project benefiting people displaced by armed conflicts in Mindanao, particularly in the provinces most hit by the fighting and destruction.

U.S. Ambassador to Manila Kristie Kenney, who was in Zamboanga City and Basilan island last week, pledged more development assistance to Mindanao through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and Growth with Equity in Mindanao (GEM), a five-year initiative that began in September 2002 to undertake a wide range of projects to increase economic productivity, and to contribute to attaining lasting peace in conflict-affected areas of Mindanao