MILF: Violence unlikely to escalate in Mindanao

ZAMBOANGA SIBUGAY, Philippines - Even with the pull out of the Malaysian delegation from the International Monitoring Team, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on Tuesday assured that ceasefire mechanisms in Mindanao remain in place and that an escalation of violence in the region is "unlikely." In an interview, Barahama Ali, a member of the regional Committee for the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH) of the MILF, said MILF units remain “committed to the primacy of the peace process." Ali noted that the prospects of the resumption of formal talks with the government has not collapsed following Malaysia's pullout from the IMT. “It is not true that the peace talks have finally collapsed," Ali said. “What is happening now is just a temporary setback of the peace process," he added, noting that the pullout was a result of the botched signing of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-Ad) in Malaysia last Aug. 5. Malaysia on Nov 30 withdrew its peacekeeping forces from Mindanao, signaling its frustration with stalled talks between the government and MILF. Other members of the IMT are military and nonmilitary personnel from Brunei, Libya and Japan. In the interview, Ali downplayed fears of the escalation of hostilities saying that “a more permanent mechanism like the Joint CCCH to monitor peace remains in place and operative." “In every region affected by conflict, there is the CCCH that continually monitor violations of the ceasefire agreement," Ali said. - GMANews.TV