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Manila–“Malaysia should stay put”. Thus said former Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim responding to an appeal by the Mindanao Peaceweavers (MPW) for him to assist in the peace talks in Mindanao. Ibrahim’s comments on the reported pullout of the Malaysian contingent in the International Monitoring Team (IMT) in Mindanao was on MPW’s specific request for him to “help us (MPW) convince your government to please continue to stay on as the leader of the International Monitoring Team (IMT) in Mindanao and to be in general patient with our peace process” . In an exclusive interview with Mindanews yesterday, Ibrahim also said that the quest and accompaniment for peace must be paramount even if there may have been compelling reasons for Kuala Lumpur to think about pulling out as the peace talks continue to drag and some initial agreements on the framework of the talks were reneged.

Since the 9/11 attacks in New York and the pursuit of the global war on terror, security agendas including counter-terrorism measures have been taking primacy internationally. A major repercussion is that civil society organizations worldwide are experiencing a shrinking of operational space within which to achieve their goals and implement development mission. It has also become evident that in many cases, the rationale and international resource support for the global war on terror is being used to initiate or further expand various political, policy, intelligence and military instruments in the name of national security but with negative impacts on civil liberties and sustainable development.

(Chiba, Japan)- A huge global conference on peace ended here today affirming support for the Mindanao peace process and echoing civil society calls for the Malaysian International Monitoring Team contingent to stay on.

The Global Article 9 Conference to Abolish War accepted a resolution submitted by its lone guest from Mindanao which also sought support for the active participation of civil society and the grassroots in any peace process. The resolution called on all third party government facilitators, mediators, brokers and negotiators to accompany any peace process until a lasting agreement is reached.