Coming at the last few days of Ramadan, the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) achieved a "major breakthrough" in the Mindanao peace process with the signing Tuesday night of an accord to form an International Contact Group (ICG).

Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) Secretary Avelino I. Razon Jr. and Eid Kabalu, chief of the MILF's Civil-Military Affairs Department, welcomed the Ramadan accord as a major breakthrough that could led to the resumption of formal negotiations.

The ICG will be composed of a group of interested countries and international non-government organizations to support and monitor the peace process in Mindanao.

Razon said the creation of ICG was a “major breakthrough” to pave the way for the resumption of the talks with the MILF.

Based on talks with government chief negotiator Rafael Seguis, Razon said the agreement on the creation of ICG was signed by the two parties during the informal talks in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia last Tuesday.

"The GRP and MILF panel signed a historic agreement to form an International Contact Group (ICG) composed of interested countries and international non-government organizations (NGOs) that will aid in building consensus that will effectively enable them to exert proper leverage," Razon said.

"This would also serve to sustain the interest of both the GRP and MILF so as to maintain a level of comfort aimed at restoring mutual trust. This is the result of the diligent efforts by both sides to work for the resumption of the peace talks," he added.

Razon hailed the new international contact group as a "welcome development" that Filipinos especially those in Mindanao have been praying for.

"This is a much needed respite for those who have suffered so much from the armed conflict, which has claimed many lives and resulted in the underdevelopment of the region. This would also hasten the development efforts of the government," he said.

Razon thanked Seguis, chairman of the government peace panel, and his MILF counterpart, Mohagher Iqbal, and all the panel members on both sides “for their continuing commitment to forge a just and lasting peace at this most crucial time in our history as a nation.”

The agreement noted that ICG, which will draw its mandate from negotiating panels and Malaysia, is “ad-hoc in nature and issue-specific” in its engagement to keep up the interest of the parties as well as maintain a level of comfort that restores mutual trust.”

The group will be assigned to attend and observe the face-to-face negotiations upon invitation by the parties, conduct visits and give advice on discreet basis, and seek out help of experts and resource persons. The ICG can also invite and engage the Organization of Islamic Conference, the European Union, and eminent persons to participate in its activities.

Seguis and Mohagher Iqbal, head MILF peace panel, signed the accord on September 15 with Malaysian facilitator Othman Abdul Razzak witnessing the signing.

After the peace talks collapsed in 2008 MILF Chairman Al-Hajj Murad Ebrahim came out with a five-point suggestion for the negotiations' resumption, which included the creation of an international guarantee group to ensure compliance with any accord.

In a statement, OPAPP Undersecretary Bong Montesa, spokesman for GRP, said the talks leading to the ICG were "tough, but in the end, the paramount interest of securing a peaceful and bright future for the people of Mindanao triumphed and was affirmed by both parties."

Seguis said "the engagement of the ICG is a major breakthrough in the pursuit for a durable peace in Mindanao and hopes that this will now pave the way for the formal resumption of the peace talks."

"We we come this accord on the ICG. This is a big confidence building development that we hope will be followed by the formal resumption of the negotiations," Kabalu told the Manila Bulletin.

Razon called it "historic agreement."

"I am overwhelmed by this latest development. I am sure the Filipino people -- both Christians and Muslims -- will be delighted to hear that the armed conflict in southern Philippines will be a thing of the past," he added.

“I am looking forward that formal peace talks will resume soonestto be followed by a final peace agreement between the government and the MILF. I believe that peace is within our grasp. Let us seize the opportunity to forge a lasting peace which the Filipinos are waiting for as our gift to the generations yet to come,” Razon said.

Montesa said both GRP and MILF are committed to find a just and durable peace in Mindanao through the ICG accord.

The ICG pact states that the body's members will "preferably" emerge from the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and the European Union and accredited international non-government organizations that GRP and MILF will invite "in consultation Malaysia, the lone third party facilitator of the Mindanaopeace process. (With a report from Elena L. Aben)