Malaysian soldiers who were monitoring a ceasefire between the Philippine government and Muslim separatists began their pullout from the troubled southern island today, eyewitnesses and airport officials said

The withdrawal of 40 Malaysian troops from four cities in the southern Philippine island of Mindanao will leave just 21 Malaysian soldiers in the south.

A Malaysian military cargo plane flew to the cities of Davao and General Santos to pick up contingents there before stopping in Cotabato and the port city of Zamboanga before returning to Malaysia.

The head of the monitoring team, Major General Bin Yashin Daud, earlier said that the rest of the team, who are still in Cotabato City, would return to Malaysia when their mandate ends in September.

Opportunity for discussion

Malaysian forces had made up the bulk of the international team monitoring a ceasefire signed in 2003 between the Philippine government and the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) which was intended to pave the way for peace talks.

However Malaysia, which had also been hosting the peace talks, declared that it would not be sending further troops to the Philippines after the negotiations stalled over the issue of "ancestral domain" claimed by the MILF.

Malaysia's Foreign Minister Rais Yatim recently said, during a visit to the Philippines that he hoped the decision would "give an opportunity to both groups to reevaluate the issues under discussion in the context of the peace process."

However, the pullout of the Malaysians has fanned fears of renewed fighting in the southern Philippines, where the 12,000-strong MILF has been fighting since 1978 to set up an Islamic state in the southern third of this largely-Christian nation.

- AFP