Malaysia truce monitors to stay on for 3 months

Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia on Thursday said it would keep its peace monitors in the violence-torn southern Philippines for another three months after appeals from both Manila and the country's biggest Islamist rebel group.

The decision came after Philippine officials and negotiators from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) met in Kuala Lumpur for the first time since violence flared in the southern Philippines earlier this month, killing nearly 200 people.

"Malaysia has acceded to the government of the Philippines request for an extension of IMT (International Monitoring Team). A three-month period is a reasonable time to bring together the peace process," Malaysia's foreign ministry said in a statement.

The long-running rebellion by Islamist insurgents in the south of the Christian-majority Philippines has prevented any significant development of some of the richest mineral and hydrocarbon resources in Southeast Asia.

Malaysia has been brokering talks between the two sides since 2001.