After Malaysia decided to end its four-year peace monitoring mission in Mindanao, southern Philippines, Japan is reportedly contemplating of pulling out of the International Monitoring Team (IMT) there, a senior Philippine diplomat said on Sunday.
The diplomat, who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said Japan is currently "in the process of evaluation."
"The government will have to wait a formal notification from the Japanese government. Right now there is none but we hope they will reconsider their decision should they decide to withdraw from the IMT," the official added.
Japanese officials have reportedly relayed to the Department of Foreign Affairs "some concerns" regarding the protracted peace process between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
A final peace accord with the rebels is expected to end more than two decades of Muslim rebellion in Mindanao.
Armed conflict in Mindanao has been greatly reduced since Malaysia began leading the peace mission there and sponsored peace talks between the Philippine government and MILF.
But the talks have been dragging on for years without any tangible result, mainly due to dispute over the size of territorial control in Mindanao by the MILF once peace is established formally there.
The MILF, the largest Islamic separatist movement in the country, has been waging an armed struggle against the government for the past 25 years. It is believed to have about 12,000 armed members.
Japan's tenure with the IMT ends on July this year. Japan has dispatched only one expert from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to the IMT.
Malaysia will start pulling out its military officers from Mindanao next month. The other two countries participating in IMT are Libya and Brunei.
Source:Xinhua
|
Comment
Tell A Friend
Print Format
Save Article