PHL urges Malaysia to replace facilitator in talks with MILF

The Philippine government has urged Malaysia to name a new facilitator for Malaysian-brokered peace negotiations with Moro rebels, saying it will have trouble working with the current representative. Marvic Leonen, the Philippine government's chief peace negotiator with the 11,000-strong Moro Islamic Liberation Front, said Tuesday a request was sent to Malaysia to replace its facilitator, Othman Abdul Razak. The Philippines will have "difficulties" working with Othman, Leonen said in a statement. The statement did not say why the government objected to Othman as a facilitator. Leonen wasn't immediately available for comment. Other officials previously involved in the talks said Othman was biased toward the rebels. "We are certain that there will be many individuals who can effectively serve as facilitator and who will be acceptable to both sides," Leonen said. The rebels objected to the government's demand and urged Malaysia to retain Othman, "to ensure continuity and preserve the gains of the peace process," a statement on their website said. The rebels have fought for decades for self-rule for minority Muslims in the southern Philippines. In September the group's chief negotiator, Mohagher Iqbal, said it was no longer demanding independence and instead was seeking a status similar to a US state. Talks collapsed in 2008 after the Supreme Court rejected a preliminary accord with the government of then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo that would have expanded an existing Muslim autonomous region in the southern Philippines. After President Benigno Aquino III took office in June, both sides formed their new peace panels and have sought to resume talks but no date has been set. Malaysia has brokered the talks since they began in 1997. — AP