Brunei May Follow M’sia In Pulling Out Peace Monitors
By Narissa Noor

Bandar Seri Begawan - "Brunei will probably pull out its men from Mindanao if Malaysia does," a spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence told the Bulletin, yesterday, when asked of Malaysia's decision to withdraw their forces from Mindanao once their mandate expires in September.

According to a dpa report, Mindanao could see an escalation of hostilities if Malaysian peacekeepers pull out from monitoring the ceasefire between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

The absence of the International Monitoring Team (IMT) in Mindanao would have a negative impact on the implementation of the ceasefire and peace negotiations, the presence of which have greatly decreased violence between the two sides, reported dpa, quoting Rodolpho Garcia, the chief government peace negotiator with the MILF.

Meanwhile, they added, according to the Malaysian Foreign Minister Rais Yatim, the decision to pull out the Malaysian contingent was due to stagnant peace talks between the Philippine government and MILF.

"We have to get cooperation from both sides," he told Malaysia's official Bemama news agency, "but if one party is not making the effort, we will have to end the mission."  -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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