Peace talks between the Philippine government and the separatist Moro Islamic Liber-ation Front (MILF) will begin in April, Malaysia said yesterday as it prepares to send an advance monitoring team to the southern Philippines.
Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said the decision was reached after a meeting in Kuala Lumpur that began on Thursday between Philippine officials and the MILF.
"The peace talks will begin in April. It is expected to be held in Malaysia," he said.
Malaysia has been hosting and mediating talks between Manila and the 11,900-member MILF, which has been fighting for more than two decades to set up an Islamic state in the southern third of the largely Christian Philippines.
Syed Hamid said that following the success of the talks, Malaysia had decided to send an advance team of military observers to Mindanao in the southern Philippines soon.
"I hope the team can be sent as soon as possible to report on the requirements for the international monitoring team that will be sent after the peace agreement is inked," the Malaysian minister said.
The international team would monitor any violations of the peace agreement, he said.
The Philippine military recently accused the MILF of violating a ceasefire signed in July last year and of staging an attack on a military outpost on Mindanao island.
MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu denied his group was behind the attack, alleging that the incident was fabricated by the Philippines government.
Syed Hamid described the two-day talks in Malaysia as successful, adding that Manila was led by Silvestre Afable, chairman of government peace negotiating panel, while the MILF was led by Mohaqer Iqbal, its central committee information chief.
"Both parties agreed that the peace talks will begin in April. They hope hostilities will cease," he said.
The Philippines government and the MILF in a joint statement issued in Manila said that their peace panels had "resolved all outstanding issues standing in the way of the formal talks."
Both panels "expressed confidence that the prospects for lasting peace were firm."
The statement, issued after the fifth round of exploratory talks in Kuala Lumpur, requested that the Malaysian government send an "advance survey team" to the southern Philippines as soon as possible.
The two sides also called on Malaysia to deploy a Malaysian-led international monitoring team.
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