Peace monitors from three Muslim countries start on Monday, March 1, a mission to oversee a ceasefire agreement in the southern Philippines, ahead of a new round peace talks this week.
"With the deployment of the International Monitoring Team, peace talks are back on track," Rafael Seguis, head of the government's peace panel, said after the arrival of Malaysian troops in Mindanao.
The 17 unarmed peacekeepers will join 20 monitors from Brunei and Libya who had stayed on in Mindanao despite the breakdown in peace talks last year, reported Reuters.
"(Their presence would) strengthen the security, civilian protection and ceasefire monitoring in the conflict areas," said Seguis.
Two Japanese aid workers also arrived to join the monitoring team.
Norway and Indonesia also offered to send soldiers to join the monitoring team but both have yet to send their troops.
Since 2001, Malaysia has been brokering negotiations between Manila and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to end a decades-long conflict that has killed more than 120,000 people.
MILF, the country's largest Muslim group, has been struggling for an independent state in the mineral-rich southern region for some three decades now.
Mindanao, the birthplace of Islam in the Philippines, is home to more than 5 million Muslims.
Peace Talks
Negotiators from Manila and MILF are meeting on Thursday in Kuala Lumpur to discuss proposed drafts on a political settlement of the conflict.
"This will be a one-day meeting to give both sides a chance to clarify each other's position, then we can move forward to the more substantive agenda," a member of the government's peace panel told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
"We're not rushing things because this may only create more trouble on the ground if we agree on a half-baked peace formula," he added.
"We also realize that this government will end its term in June."
Manila and MILF resumed talks in Malaysia on December 8 to build peace in Mindanao.
The move came 16 months after the government had junked peacemaking after the suspension of a peace agreement with MILF over Christian protests.
Mohaqher Iqbal, the MILF chief negotiator, said his group is not seeking separation.
"We're not seeking to separate and create a new state," he said by phone from his hideout on Mindanao.
"We're only asking the government to recognize our right for self-determination and we're not even trying to reclaim areas where Muslims have become a minority."
"With the deployment of the International Monitoring Team, peace talks are back on track," Rafael Seguis, head of the government's peace panel, said after the arrival of Malaysian troops in Mindanao.
The 17 unarmed peacekeepers will join 20 monitors from Brunei and Libya who had stayed on in Mindanao despite the breakdown in peace talks last year, reported Reuters.
"(Their presence would) strengthen the security, civilian protection and ceasefire monitoring in the conflict areas," said Seguis.
Two Japanese aid workers also arrived to join the monitoring team.
Norway and Indonesia also offered to send soldiers to join the monitoring team but both have yet to send their troops.
Since 2001, Malaysia has been brokering negotiations between Manila and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to end a decades-long conflict that has killed more than 120,000 people.
MILF, the country's largest Muslim group, has been struggling for an independent state in the mineral-rich southern region for some three decades now.
Mindanao, the birthplace of Islam in the Philippines, is home to more than 5 million Muslims.
Peace Talks
Negotiators from Manila and MILF are meeting on Thursday in Kuala Lumpur to discuss proposed drafts on a political settlement of the conflict.
"This will be a one-day meeting to give both sides a chance to clarify each other's position, then we can move forward to the more substantive agenda," a member of the government's peace panel told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
"We're not rushing things because this may only create more trouble on the ground if we agree on a half-baked peace formula," he added.
"We also realize that this government will end its term in June."
Manila and MILF resumed talks in Malaysia on December 8 to build peace in Mindanao.
The move came 16 months after the government had junked peacemaking after the suspension of a peace agreement with MILF over Christian protests.
Mohaqher Iqbal, the MILF chief negotiator, said his group is not seeking separation.
"We're not seeking to separate and create a new state," he said by phone from his hideout on Mindanao.
"We're only asking the government to recognize our right for self-determination and we're not even trying to reclaim areas where Muslims have become a minority."
