MILF wants expanded role for international ceasefire monitoring team

From GMA News (Dec 23): MILF wants expanded role for international ceasefire monitoring team

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front wants an expanded role for the Malaysia-led International Monitoring Team in Mindanao, Malaysia's state-run Bernama News Agency reported. MILF chairman Al-Haj Murad, in an interview in Malaysia, particularly wants the IMT to helping implement humanitarian and rehabilitation programs. "At this point [in] time, their mandate is to monitor the implementation of the ceasefire, so from that monitoring mandate, we can include also the implementation of humanitarian and rehabilitation programs, as they could also be useful in that aspect," the Bernama report quoted Murad as saying about IMT. Murad was in Malaysia to attend the recently concluded 8th World Islamic Economic Forum.

The IMT started monitoring the ceasefire between the government and the MILF in 2004. Other countries represented in the IMT include Brunei, Indonesia, Japan, Norway and the European Union. The IMT also has support from various governments and local and international non-government agencies.

Last October, the MILF and the Philippine government signed a framework peace agreement seeking to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao with a Bangsamoro political entity. Malaysia had helped broker the framework agreement by acting as facilitator in the peace talks. Murad said the IMT can also have other roles, such as overseeing the peace agreement during the transition period. "Later on, [the IMT] can be turned into a third-party monitoring group that will oversee the existing agreement during the transition period," he said.

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/287530/news/regions/milf-wants-expanded-role-for-international-ceasefire-monitoring-team