MANILA, Dec 12: The Philippines’ main Muslim separatist group has agreed to stop recruiting child soldiers and return those in its ranks to civilian life, a United Nations official said on Friday.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) had agreed to “enter into an action plan with the United Nations to stop the recruitment and use of children and ensure that they are separated from the ranks,” the UN statement said.

The UN special representative for children and armed conflict, Radhika Coomaraswarmy, was quoted as saying the MILF made the commitment when she met its leaders during a five-day tour of the Philippines.

Officials of the 12,000-strong MILF, which has been fighting for a Muslim homeland on southern Mindanao island since 1978, met with Coomraswarmy as part of her mission to discuss ways to stop recruitment of children by armed groups in this country.

Also during her visit, the Philippine government issued an order strictly prohibiting the recruitment of anyone below the age of 18 into pro-government paramilitary units, Coomaraswarmy said on Friday, the last day of her tour.

The UN official also said that she was considering “possible dialogue,” with the 5,000-strong communist New People’s Army (NPA), which has been waging a Maoist rebellion since 1969.

The MILF and the NPA have both been accused of recruiting children into their ranks.—AFP