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RP, MILF aim to ink truce early next year
(Updated 5:16 p.m.) KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — A Malaysian official said the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) aim to seal a peace pact by March or early April to end a bloody, decades-long rebellion in the south. Othman Abdul Razak said Wednesday the two sides also agreed to revive an international monitoring team of cease-fire observers and expand the panel's scope to include civilian protection. The two sides resumed peace talks on Monday at a hotel in Malaysia's largest city. Talks had collapsed between the government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the MILF 16 months ago. But a joint statement signed by government peace panel chairmen Rafael Seguis and MILF counterpart Mohagher Iqbal released on Wednesday made no mention of any definite date on the signing of a peace pact. They only agreed to renew the Terms of Reference for the International Monitoring Team (IMT) to monitor ceasefire, humanitarian, rehabilitation, development and civilian protection agreements. With this, the two panels will invite as IMT members Malaysia, Japan, Brunei, Libya and non-governmental organizations like the International Committee on the Red Cross (ICRC), the Mindanao People’s Caucus (MPC) and the Non-Violent Peace Force (NVPF). “The GRP took serious note of the MILF concerns of continued arrests of its elements by government authorities and to take steps to address this issue," the statement read. The MILF has been fighting for self-rule for decades in Mindanao, the southern homeland of minority Muslims in the largely Roman Catholic Philippines. – with Joseph Holandes Ubalde/RSJ, AP
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