Malaysia happy to host talks

Malaysia happy to host talks

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.