KL minister will meet MILF leaders

KL minister will meet MILF leaders

MALAYSIA: Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar will meet
senior leaders of the Philippines' largest Muslim separatist
group in southern Mindanao next week, an official said on Friday.

"The foreign minister hopes to gather (a) first hand view of
the situation on the ground during his meeting with MILF
leaders," a government official familiar with the plan told AFP.

The official said the meeting was scheduled for April 12 in
Cotabato city in Mindanao immediately after the Southeast Asian
foreign ministers meeting in the central resort city of Cebu.

Peace talks between the Philippines government and the Moro
Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) are expected to resume in
Malaysia on April 16. A cease-fire was signed last year between
Manila and the MILF.

The MILF has been waging a separatist rebellion for an
independent Islamic state on southern Mindanao island since 1978
but opened preliminary peace talks with the government in 2003.

Syed Hamid would also meet with the international monitoring
team in Mindanao which began its cease-fire monitoring duties
last October. The 64-member mission is led by Malaysia. It also
includes Brunei and Libya. --AFP