By Xinhua,
Manila : Britain will send an expert to the Philippines to give advice and assistance to the stalled peace process between the government and Muslim rebels in Mindanao, southern Philippines, British officials said here on Saturday.
The offer came after Malaysia announced its plan to pull out peacekeepers from Mindanao last month, due to failure by the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels to make a formal peace deal.
Visiting British Foreign Office Minister for Southeast Asia and the Pacific Meg Munn and British Ambassador to the Philippines Peter Beckingham told reporters that such an expert, who previously handled the peace negotiations in Northern Ireland, will act as advisers to the negotiating parties.
“The MILF and the Philippine government said they’d welcome someone who could talk about what happened in Northern Ireland. They will talk with the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and try and get ways in which the peace process can move along in the right direction,” Beckingham said.
The ambassador said the British expert will not be part of the peace negotiations but will only give advice to the government and the MILF and share the experiences.
Beckingham added that the expert will specifically give advice on the de-commissioning and turnover of weapons and firearms.
“So what we now have to do is to find someone who would be of interest to your government and the MILF to come out here and there is an agreement and that is final. What we have to do in the next few weeks is to find someone, probably someone, a political director who is actually involved in the peace process in Northern Ireland and the UK who certainly have the background and the experience to bring value to the process here,” he added.
According to Beckingham, the idea to send peace negotiations experts is an offshoot of a previous discussion between former British Prime Minster Tony Blair and President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo when the latter made a visit to Britain in December 2007.
A final peace accord with the rebels is expected to end more than two decades of Muslim rebellion in Mindanao, which has resulted in thousands of deaths on the MILF and government troops and displacement of families in the impoverished Southern Philippine region.
The MILF, the largest Islamic separatist movement in the country, has been waging an armed struggle against the government for the past 25 years. It is believed to have about 12,000 armed members.