Ambassador Rafael Seguis, chairman of the peace panel of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) in the negotiations with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Wednesday said two non-government organizations based in the United States (US) and Switzerland have accepted membership in the International Contact Group (ICG).

In a text message, Seguis said these are The Asia Foundation (TAF), with headquarters in San Francisco, and the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (CHD), with its main office in Geneva, Switzerland.

Seguis and Mohagher Iqbal, chairman of the MILF peace panel, and their delegation members met in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Monday where they held talks with “candidates” for membership in the ICG.

As usual, the Malaysian government hosted and facilitated the meeting, which the MILF called a “leveling session,” with Datuk Othman Bin Abdul Razzak, the chief facilitator.

TAF country representative in the Philippines is Steven Rood for TAF, and Dr. David Gorman for the CHD.

TAF is described on its Web site as a non-profit non-government organization (NGO) that is “committed to the development of a peaceful, prosperous, just and open Asia-Pacific Region.”

CHD, on the other hand, “is an independent organization...dedicated to helping improve the global response to armed conflict.”

The GRP and MILF chief negotiators signed on September 15 an agreement to create the ICG, to be composed of interested countries and international NGOs to help move the peace talks forward.

GRP and MILF are eyeing members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), the European Union, Japan and other countries to join the ICG.

Meanwhile, the MILF has been wooing the United States to help in the peace process, saying US has the power and influence to ensure the implementation of any peace agreement that would be arrived at in the over 12-year peace process.