Malaysia happy to host talks

Fri, 20 Jul 2001, 00:00 WIB | Source: AFP

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Malaysia is happy to host talks scheduled
for next week between the Philippine government and the country's
main Muslim insurgent group, Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar
said on Thursday.

Syed Hamid said Kuala Lumpur would not be involved in the
meeting. "But if they want to invite us, if they want a third
party to be present, we will be there," he said.

A second round of negotiations between Manila and the Moro
Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) would begin in Kuala Lumpur on
July 24, an MILF spokesman said on Tuesday.

Negotiators will work out details of a landmark truce signed
in Libya last month.

The 12,500-strong MILF is the Philippines' main Muslim
insurgent group, and the talks are aimed at ending their 23-year
rebellion for an independent Islamic state in the south.

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