MANILA: Malaysia withdrew its last remaining 12 peacekeepers from the southern Philippines yesterday but said they may return if there is progress in the peace process in the troubled region.

A Malaysian C-130 plane picked up the peace monitors at an airport on the southern island of Mindanao.

Malaysia, which has been brokering the peace talks between Manila and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), has expressed frustration at the slow pace of talks to end four decades of conflict that has killed more than 120,000 people.

First Admiral Amzah Pahlawan bin Sulaiman, the head of the Malaysian-led International Monitoring Team, said his government was not turning its back on a commitment to help end the conflict in the south of the mainly Catholic state.

"We hope the Philippines and the MILF can resume peace talks as soon as possible," Amzah said. "We're willing to come back and participate in another capacity to bring peace and stability here."

The remaining 17 members of the peace monitoring team — 10 troops from Brunei, five from Libya and two aid workers from Japan — would remain in the south as the government and the rebels negotiate to extend the mandate of the peace monitors.

"They're still here, but they can no longer perform their duties as peace monitors until such time we can sort out things," Hermogenes Esperon, the president's peace adviser, said, adding that the Libyan and Japanese monitors would return to Manila this week.

About 60 unarmed peacekeepers were posted on Mindanao in 2004 to help bring an end to the conflict.

The first withdrawals in May comprised of 29 Malaysians who returned home following frustrations over the slow pace of peace negotiations.

With the departure of the remaining Malaysian monitors, the 11,000-member MILF fears violence could further escalate and spill over to other areas of a region rich with oil, gas and mineral reserves. Fighting broke out in mid-August after a homeland deal was stopped by the country's top court.

Since August, almost 300 people have been killed in fighting between security forces and rogue members of the MILF.

The conflict has displaced more than 650,000 people, prompting calls for the two sides to restart peace negotiations.

— With input from agencies