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MANILA, April 12 (AFP)-The Philippines has asked to attend a meeting of Islamic countries in Malaysia as a guest to seek their help in bringing peace to the strife-torn southern part of the country. Philippine Foreign Secretary Domingo Siazon relayed the request during a meeting with his counterparts from Qatar, Libya and Pakistan on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement conference in Cartagena, Colombia. The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), a forum of Muslim states, is to hold its meeting in Malaysia later this year. Siazon informed Qatari, Libyan and Pakistani diplomats of Manila's efforts to bring peace to the main southern region of Mindanao, where the government is fighting an Islamic resistance waged by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). At least 41 MILF members have been slain as troops mounted an air and ground assault on an MILF training base in the Mindanao province of Lanao del Norte, says a military spokesperson. Siazon "emphasized the need for Philippine government participation as a guest at the forthcoming OIC meeting in Malaysia in order to brief the conference on the implementation of the (peace) agreement in 1996," the statement said. Manila also would want to "clearly convey the government's sincerity in finding a solution to the problems plaguing Mindanao," it added. Siazon "sought their continued support towards the achievement of lasting peace and development there," the statement said. He briefed them as well on how Manila was implementing a peace agreement it signed with another liberation movement group, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). The 1996 peace accord, which led to a Muslim autonomous region comprised of four provinces headed by MNLF chieftain Nur Misuari, was brokered by the OIC.
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