BRUNEI TO EXTEND PARTICIPATION IN SOUTHERN

C O N F I D E N T I A L BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN 000252 SIPDIS SIPDIS SINGAPORE FOR DAO E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/21/2017 TAGS: MARR PREL RP BX SUBJECT: BRUNEI TO EXTEND PARTICIPATION IN SOUTHERN PHILIPPINES PEACE MONITORING OPERATION REF: A. MANILA 2828 ¶B. KUALA LUMPUR 1234 Classified By: Ambassador Emil Skodon for Reasons 1.4 (B,D) ¶1. (C) Deputy Defense Minister Pehin Yasmin told Ambassador that Brunei had decided to extend its participation in the International Monitoring Team (IMT) in the southern Philippines for another year in response to Manila's request. Brunei's current ten-person contingent attached to the Malaysian IMT unit is scheduled to end its deployment at the end of August. It will be replaced by a new group of similar size for what will be the fourth renewal of the IMT mandate. ¶2. (C) Yasmin indicated that the manpower-strapped Royal Brunei Armed Forces could not afford an open-ended commitment to the IMT, and so serious thought had been given to whether it made sense to renew Bruneian participation. The eventual decision to do so was based on an assessment that the peace process between the Government of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) could come to fruition within the next 12 months. Yasmin said he had been briefed on the latest offer approved by President Arroyo regarding ancestral domain and territory to be covered in a Muslim self-governing region, and in his opinion it gave the MILF what it needed to reach a deal. As a result, Yasmin was optimistic about the forthcoming talks between Manila and the MILF to be held in Kuala Lumpur. SKODON