ZAMBOANGA CITY, 10 April 2006 — Malaysia’s deputy defense minister, Dato Hj Zainal Abidin Bin Hj Zin, yesterday said the proven durability of the cease-fire agreement between the Philippine government and the country’s biggest Muslim separatist armed group is a good indication that a lasting peace pact in the southern Philippines is not far-fetched.

“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 during a visit to Zamboanga City yesterday.

The official is in the country to inspect the Malaysian contingent of an international team monitoring the truce between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

The head of the 56-man observer team, Malaysian Maj. Gen. Dato Pahlawan Soheimi Bin Abbas, said that both sides have been faithfully respecting the cease-fire agreement.

The monitoring group has representatives from Malaysia, Libya and Brunei, all members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).

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

He arrived in Zamboanga City yesterday and met with the chief of the Philippine military’s Southern Command, Maj. Gen. Gabriel Habacon, before meeting with members of the monitoring team.

“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 that his country would like to see the restoration of complete peace in Mindanao, or the southern Philippines.

“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.

Winds of Change

Malaysia was known to have supported the cause of Filipino Muslim separatists in the decades past. Tens of thousands of Muslims uprooted from their villages during the full-blown wars of the 70s fled to nearby Sabah then.

But times changed and Malaysia accepted the role of a broker when President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo opened peace negotiations with the MILF in 2001 in an effort to end more than three decades of bloody fighting in Mindanao.

Habacon assured Zainal that the Philippine military is supporting the government peace process and also wanted the talks to succeed.

“We are for peace and the military is supportive of the 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.

Malaysian officials have repeatedly urged the MILF to take the path of peace and to eschew separatism as advocated by some hard-liners. They said nobody wins when both sides opt to settle a dispute through fighting.

An estimated 150,000 lives have been lost in full-blown fighting between the government and Nur Misuari’s Moro National Liberation Front (MILF), which signed a peace agreement with Manila in September 1996.

The MILF, which broke up with the MNLF in 1978 over strategic and tactical differences, refused to be covered by the agreement and opted to conduct separate talks.

Pledges of Support

Apart from Malaysia, other groups have also expressed their support for the ongoing Manila-MILF talks, with the United Nations pledging a $27 million food aid program to Mindanao.

Many Arab countries as well as the OIC and the World Muslim League (MWL) have also recently reiterated their strong support for the peace process.

US President George W. Bush also offered as much as $30 million to help develop Mindanao once a peace agreement is sealed. The money will be used to provide MILF fighters livelihood opportunities and become part of the mainstream society again.

The World Bank also said it was preparing a $50-million international development assistance package for Mindanao to be disbursed only after a peace agreement is signed.

The United Nations World Food Program (UNWFP) on Thursday said plans are under way 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.

Mindanao is home to about 14 million Christians and Muslims, and at least 18 other indigenous tribes.