By Charmaine Deogracias, Mirasol Ng-Gadil and Joel San Juan

MALAYSIAN Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar has hinted that the Estrada government should stop its military operations against the Muslim separatists because the influential Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) may inevitably take cognizance of the issue during its meeting in Kuala Lumpur on June 27 to 30.

A ranking official of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Albar relayed this message during a luncheon meeting with the Malaysian minister Thursday.

“Stop highlighting and exacerbating the Mindanao problem—the issue of the hostage situation and the MILF conflict. Otherwise, it will become an issue in the OIC under the context of Muslim minorities in non-Muslim states,” the official, who requested anonymity, quoted Albar as saying.

The DFA official said Albar did not elaborate, but this was taken as a hint that the government should now stop the military offensives mounted against the secessionist MILF rebels.

It will be recalled that the OIC has reportedly approved a resolution urging the Estrada government to pursue peace talks with the rebels instead of opting for a military solution to the problem.

Malacañang lashed out at Malaysia and struck down hints for mediation in Mindanao.

“We do not need a third party for referee for the two sides, this is a matter that has to be solved by Filipinos among themselves,” Press Secretary Ricardo Puno stressed.

The government will only allow in a third party once an agreement is on hand, like what happened during settlement efforts with the Moro National Liberation Front.

“The mediation process did not come in until the last couple of months, when all that was needed was just a little bit of push to get all the details of the agreement,” Puno pointed out.

The OIC Mindanao resolution will be tackled at the 27th annual meeting of the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers (ICFM) on June 29 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

A DFA official said that during the luncheon meeting with government officials, Albar said the OIC may also tackle another resolution regarding Muslim minorities in non-Muslim states in Kuala Lumpur.

The resolution, entitled Plan of Action on Safeguarding the Rights of Muslim Communities and Minorities, was adopted during an OIC Committee of Experts meeting in Brazil last April l8.

During the Brazil meeting, OIC Secretary-General Azzedine Laraki highlighted the need to protect the rights of Muslim communities and minorities in non-member states of the organization.

The proposed action plan likewise stressed the need to help the Muslim minorities preserve their Islamic identity as well as participate actively in the economic and social advancement of the countries where they live, but taking consideration those countries’ “sovereignty and traditions.”

“This would encourage the Muslim minorities in non-Islamic states to cooperate, better integrate themselves in the communities in which they live and bring in their contribution to the latter’s public life…without affecting in any way the state’s sovereignty,” Laraki said in a statement after the Brazil meeting.

According to the DFA official, Albar informed them that in Kuala Lumpur, the ICFM will discus two major issues: Islam and globalization as well as the election of the next OIC secretary-general.