MANILA, 30 April 2003 - Malaysian Defense Minister Najib Tun Razak yesterday asked the Philippine government to exercise restraint in its campaign against Moro secessionists in Mindanao as he complained that the peace talks were not moving fast enough.

As the same time, Najib urged the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to purge its ranks of extremists and stop performing acts that showed "terrorist tendencies."

Najib reminded Manila that the MILF "is not a very homogenous group," noting that there are "extreme elements within..."

"We have to deal with them at some point," he said. "But excluding them and wanting to eliminate the entire MILF would in fact derail the peace process. If you do that, then you have decided you want to eliminate everyone and there will be no one to talk peace with."

Najib was speaking before the National Conference on Regional Security, attended by about 100 defense officials, academics and diplomats, in Manila's financial district of Makati.

The conference was organized by the Center for Strategic Studies of the Office of the Presidential Adviser for Special Concerns.

Najib said that if indeed the MILF claims to represent Muslims, "the Moro movement must combat radicalism and militant elements within its organization."

Malaysia, a Muslim nation, does not support or condone Islamic secessionists seeking change through "extreme" behavior outside the political arena.

"We respect the territorial integrity of the Philippines," he said. "The whole idea that they can form a separate Islamic state is something that we will not support or condone and we will try to influence other Islamic countries not to support them in that cause.

"They have to work on a peace agreement within the context of the Philippine constitution," he added.

He also said: "Muslims must be reminded that extremism is loathed by Islam and that resorting to violence is equally condemned by true believers. Islam is a religion of peace."

"The call for jihad, or Muslim holy war, had long been abused by extremists to instill fear and create terror," Najib said.

He cited the Abu Sayyaf kidnap gang as an example. "This group is using Islam to confuse people," he said.

As for other Muslim rebels, Najib said: "(They) must concentrate on bringing greater development to the community instead of merely aiming to seize power. Let us call for a jihad against poverty, against ignorance, against underdevelopment and against prejudice."

Najib said he had received various suggestions during his Manila visit to move the peace process forward, particularly in establishing "confidence building measures" mechanisms that can exist and go beyond peace accords.

"Sometimes signing on the dotted line is easy but to ensure that what is being signed is carried out is another challenge all by itself," he added.

For the last three years, Malaysia had been hosting peace talks between Manila and the 12,500-strong MILF, which has been fighting for an independent Islamic state in the southern third of the Philippines since 1978.

President Gloria Arroyo's adviser Norberto Gonzales told reporters that Malaysia would host a second round of exploratory peace talks in the first week of May.

"It will probably be a repeat of the exploratory talks that we held one month ago in Kuala Lumpur and I am optimistic about it," he added.

Arroyo is to hold talks with Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi on the sidelines of an ongoing Southeast Asian summit in Thailand to discuss the talks with the MILF, Malaca–ang Palace said.

A 2001 cease-fire agreement collapsed earlier this year after the government pursued a major assault on MILF camps allegedly used to harbor "terrorists."

Hundreds of people were killed, most of them MILF guerillas, and tens of thousands of civilians were evacuated.

The MILF allegedly retaliated by staging several bloody bomb attacks on civilian targets. "Apparently, there was some misunderstanding on the terms (of the peace talks). We will sit down again and see how we will proceed with the formal talks," Gonzales said. (Inputs from AFP, Inquirer News Service)