ZAMBOANGA CITY, 10 May 2006 — A small group of European and Malaysian officials arrived in the southern Philippines yesterday and met separately with senior Filipino military leaders, officials said.
Officials said Ambassadors Annika Markovic of Sweden and Riita Resch of Finland held a closed-door meeting with Southern Command officials headed by Maj. Gen. Gabriel Habacon. The two were accompanied by International Criminal Court Judge Erkki Kouula and Brig. Gen. Jan Gunnar Isberg, of the Swedish Armed Forces and Col. Adrian Van Gorp of the Dutch Army.
A group of Malaysian truce observers, led by Maj. Gen. Dato Pahlawan Soheimi Bin Abbas, also arrived later at the military base and held a separate conference with Filipino security officials.
The Malaysian-led IMT is composed of 56 military officers from Malaysia, Brunei and Libya. Its primary task is to monitor the implementation of the cease-fire agreement between the GRP and the MILF. Officials did say what were discussed in the meetings, but local military sources claimed the foreigners were briefed about the current security situation in Mindanao and the progress of the peace talks between Manila and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
Last month, Malaysian Deputy Defense Minister Dato Haj Zainal Abidin Bin Hj Zin also visited the Southern Command and spoke with Habacon. He praised peace talks between the Philippines and the MILF, the country’s largest Muslim separatist rebel group in Mindanao.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo opened peace talks with the MILF in 2001 in an effort to put an end to the hostilities in Mindanao, where rebels are fighting to establish a separate Islamic state. Arroyo said the talks are almost done and that peace negotiators are expected to sign an accord by the end of the year, despite some contentious issues on the Muslim ancestral domain, the single most important issue in the peace talks before the two groups can reach a political settlement.
The MILF last month also praised the United Nations for the $27 million food aid program to Mindanao in support to Manila ‘s effort to end the long strife in the southern region. The United Nations World Food Program (UNWFP) on Thursday said plans are underway 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 combatants.
The UNWFP said the one year operation has a budget of $27.2 million, but the amount of actual assistance provided will depend on donor response. Last month, Tokyo announced the first major contribution of $1.2 million for the Mindanao program as part of their aid package to UNWFP’s operations addressing peace building activities.
Mindanao is home to about 14 million Christians and Muslims, and at least 18 other indigenous tribes. It is also a stronghold of the MILF, the country’s largest Muslim separatist rebel group fighting for the establishment of a strict Islamic state in Mindanao.
The World Bank also said it was preparing a $50-million international development assistance package for Mindanao , but the aid would be disbursed only after a peace agreement is signed between the Filipino government and the MILF.
Last year the United Nations Development Program and the European Commission agreed to carry out an 18-month rehabilitation project benefiting people displaced by armed conflicts in Mindanao, particularly in the provinces most hit by the fighting and destruction.
