Kyamko on MILF offer to find JI: Just do it

ZAMBOANGA CITY — Armed Forces Southern Command chief Lt. Gen. Roy Kyamko dared yesterday the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to put into action its plan to hunt down terrorists belonging to the Indonesia-based Jemaah Islamiyah (JI).

"That’s a very nice gesture but until we see the proof it remains a gesture," he said. "Huwag nang maraming salita, gawin na lang (Action, not more talk)."

Kyamko said the MILF’s offer is a good gesture, but the separatist movement should show concrete action.

JI terrorist cells are reportedly holed out in different parts of Mindanao, he added.

Troops and policemen are hunting down suspected JI terrorists who are seeking the establishment of a pan-Islamic state in Mindanao, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia.

Earlier, immigration agents said about 40 suspected JI terrorists are on the loose in Mindanao, with some reportedly being coddled by the MILF.

Last Oct. 2, troops and policemen captured Taufek Refke, allegedly the JI’s No. 2 man in the Philippines, after slain JI leader Fathur Rohman Al-Ghozi.

Refke, 23, claimed that they have other members, mostly Indonesians, still hiding in various parts of Mindanao.

But Kyamko said most of the information revealed by Refke were from 1995 to 1996 before troops seized Camp Al-Siddique Abubakar in 2000, when President Joseph Estrada ordered an all-out war against the MILF in mid-2000.

"We don’t know what’s Refke’s reason here (for revealing the supposed JI presence), because he told us of information which he knew before the year 2000," he said.

"So after the year 2000 I have not seen any information which he revealed."

The military is investigating the alleged link between the MILF and JI from 2000 up to the present, he added.