KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA - MALAYSIA'S foreign minister says his country will pull out its peacekeeping forces from the troubled Philippine province of Mindanao in a phased withdrawal beginning May 10.

Mr Rais Yatim, who was on a two-day working trip to the Philippines, said his government was unable to continue with an unlimited deployment in the international monitoring team (IMT), according to a foreign ministry statement released late Wednesday.

Mr Rais said he hoped the Malaysian decision would 'give an opportunity to both groups to reevaluate the issues under discussion in the context of the peace process', the statement added.

He said however that Malaysia was committed to helping resolve the Philippine situation.

On Wednesday Mr Rais met with Philippine President Gloria Arroyo and foreign secretary Alberto Romulo following a call from Manila for Malaysia to continue to support the peace process in the country's south after its pullout.

Last month, Malaysia said it would not send more monitors of a 2003 ceasefire between Manila and separatist rebels in Mindanao once their current mandate expires in September.

Manila and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) struck a deal last November to create a Muslim homeland in the country's south but further talks have not been successful.

Malaysian troops have made up the bulk of an international team that has been monitoring the ceasefire since 2004.