Tensions in Mindanao seen to rise as peacekeepers pull out (tags)
Malaysian peacekeepers began a phased withdrawal from the Philippines' troubled south on Saturday, raising worries that decades of Muslim rebellion in the mainly Catholic nation may resume. Twenty-eight of 41 Malaysian soldiers and police officers were picked up by two army transport planes at three points on the southern island of Mindanao and flown to a base in the Malaysian province of Sabah. The remnants of the 60-member International Monitoring Team (IMT), including 10 soldiers from Brunei, eight from Libya and a Japanese development worker, were expected to pack their bags and go home by the end of August.