MILF denies JI terror ties
September 26, 2004 | 12:00am
COTABATO CITY — Muslim separatist rebels waging a long running rebellion in the southern Philippines have assured the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) they have no ties with Southeast Asia-based terrorists, foreign diplomats said yesterday.
Ambassadors from OIC member-countries said Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chief Murad Ebrahim denied the allegations and assured the OIC his group was committed to signing a peace deal with Manila.
The 12,000-strong MILF, which is now negotiating peace with the government, has been accused by regional intelligence agencies of protecting and training Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) militants.
Muruad stressed they have no links with the JI, the Southeast Asian arm of Osama bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda network.
Libyan Ambassador Salem Adam said the envoys met Murad at his jungle camp near here two weeks ago. "They are looking forward to achieving peace, a lasting and comprehensive agreement and a solution to this problem," Adam told reporters.
The Islamic bloc envoys arrived here under tight guard to check on the progress of an autonomous Muslim government carved out of Mindanao under a 1996 peace pact between the government and the Moro National Liberation, formerly the largest Muslim secessionist group in the country. The MILF is a splinter group of the MNLF.
Adam said Murad assured him that "the MILF has no connection to the JI, and that they are calling on the government for a joint inspection" of MILF camps that the government alleges has harbored JI militants in the past.
The same invitation has also been extended to the Australian government, which rejected it.
Experts have said that a Malaysian JI militant tagged as behind the bombing outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta early this month had trained in bomb-making in MILF camps.
That attack killed nine people and left many others wounded. The JI was also blamed for the October 2002 bombings in Bali, Indonesia that left 202 people, mostly Australian tourists, dead.
Members of a joint MILF-government committee are to visit a mountain region at the heart of Mindanao island in November, or after the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
Negotiations with the government have so far led to a ceasefire and agreements to cooperate in flushing out foreign militants from MILF strongholds. But when the talks resume in October, they are likely to include political and economic issues.
MILF leaders said they plan to press Manila for self-governance and recognition of their "ancestral domain" to end their insurgency.
MILF deputy chief Ghazali Jaafar, speaking at his heavily fortified home in Mindanao, said Manila should acknowledge that the Bangsamoro, or Muslim people, historically ruled the south of this mostly Roman Catholic country.
"Mindanao was ruled by our ancestors and should be recognized as such and returned to us," Jaafar told Agence France Presse in an interview as he sat under the insurgents’ flag and closely guarded by two guerrillas wielding M-16 assault rifles.
"We want self-governance, a system by which we Muslims can solve the problems of our own people. And not just an agreement favoring a few Muslims leaders," he said.
This will all depend on President Arroyo, the rebel leader said but added the MILF leadership "is willing to sign an agreement if there is a favorable solution to the problem of the Bangsamoro who remain colonized."
"We are not negotiating for surrender," Jaafar said. "But we have been fighting for three decades and it is time we find a solution."
However, joining the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) is "unacceptable," he said, because it has been a failure and does not reflect "the will of the Bangsamoro."
The ARMM was created when the MNLF signed a peace pact with government in 1996.
It now consists of four mainly Muslim provinces and Marawi City on Mindanao, which remains poor despite the millions of dollars poured into it.
Many roads remain unpaved, and while a few shopping centers have been built, they are owned by settlers from elsewhere.
Unlicensed guns and private militias of rival warlords add to the problem.
"The so-called ARMM is not a real autonomy. It did not have power and answers still to the Manila government. It also did not contribute to the improvement in the lives of Muslims," Jaafar said.
"Look around you, we are still a poor people."
He said the MILF would avoid going the way of the MNLF, some of whose members joined the security forces after the pact. Many later reverted to rebellion.
MNLF leader Nur Misuari himself later led a failed rebellion when he was being removed as ARMM governor and is now languishing in a jail at Fort Sto. Domingo in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.
Jaafar said the government should not "limit the parameters of the discussions" and should consider several options.
While the rebels welcomed Manila’s dropping of criminal charges against their leaders, they will not lay down their arms until a "just and acceptable solution is found," he said.
A short man in his 50s, Jaafar, along with Muslim leaders such as the late Salamat Hashim and Misuari initiated the rebellion in the early 1970s.
Misuari, who headed the MNLF, and Hashim would later split, giving birth to the MILF.
When Mrs. Arroyo was swept to power in a military-backed popular revolt in 2001, she invited the MILF to the peace table. In 2002, a ceasefire was signed, leading to formal talks.
But the talks have been marred by deadly clashes, and by allegations by the military that the MILF has been sheltering militants of the Jemaah Islamiyah regional terror group — a claim repeatedly denied by the rebels.
Hashim died in 2003 of natural causes, leading to a power vacuum that slowed the peace process. In his place now is Murad Ebrahim, formerly head of the MILF’s 12,000-strong armed wing.
The talks are expected to resume next month, hosted by Malaysia, which in the 1970s had sheltered the insurgents who frequently crossed into its Sabah state.
Meanwhile, the military announced yesterday it has completed its pullout of troops from a former MILF stronghold ahead of planned peace talks.
In keeping with an agreement with the MILF in February, Armed Forces Southern Command chief Maj. Gen. Generoso Senga said the last phase of the withdrawal of elements from the 2nd Marine Brigade under Col. Ben Dolorfino was completed last Tuesday in Liguasan Marsh, a part of the Buliok complex.
The 2nd Marine Brigade was redeployed to the provinces of Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur, said Senga in a statement.
It did not say how many soldiers had been pulled out from Buliok, but the military had said in the past that more than 2,000 soldiers, mostly marines, were stationed in the area.
"The pullout was a gesture of faith and goodwill on the government’s part as peace talks resume between the state and the MILF," Senga said.
The President ordered the military to seize Buliok, near the town of Pikit, last year on grounds that MILF units in the area sheltered terrorists and kidnappers.
Senga said the 602nd Army Brigade was tasked in providing the security for the ongoing "Tulay ng Pangulo" project in Buliok.
He said a joint government-MILF ceasefire monitoring office was established in Bagoinged to monitor and coordinate all relevant issues affecting the peace process.
Similar ceasefire monitoring centers were also established in the Islamic center, Buliok, Pagalungan and Kitango, Datu Saudi Ampatuan, all in Maguindanao, according to Senga.
In the OIC dialogue with ARMM officials, the influential pan-Islamic body maintained that its role in the Mindanao peace process is to serve as a "third party" mediator in talks with the MILF.
Adam stressed the secessionist problem is an internal problem of the Philippine government and that their main concern is finding a peaceful resolution to the peace and order problems in Mindanao.
Adam also brushed aside as another "domestic problem of the Philippine government" allegations by certain MNLF leaders that Malacañang has not religiously complied with some provisions of the Sept. 2, 1996 government-MNLF peace pact.
He and his Iranian counterpart, Jalal Kalantari, took turns assuring ARMM Gov. Parouk Hussin and his constituent-leaders in the region of the OIC’s support to Mrs. Arroyo’s peace overtures with Mindanao’s Muslim communities.
Adam said their purpose of initiating a dialogue with ARMM officials is to gather information on possible "humanitarian interventions" that OIC-member-states can fulfill in Mindanao to complement the peace process.
"We in the OIC have that Islamic fund which can be utilized for peace-building activities anywhere in the world," Adam told Hussin in the dialogue.
Hussin noted the arrival of the Islamic bloc envoys was a big boost to the efforts of the regional government to project that the ARMM is now a safe area for foreign investors to put up viable ventures.
"Their visit will let them see for themselves how we in the ARMM and other Muslim areas are helping Malacañang address the fiscal crisis now besetting our government," Hussin said. – With reports from AFP, Roel Pareño
Ambassadors from OIC member-countries said Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chief Murad Ebrahim denied the allegations and assured the OIC his group was committed to signing a peace deal with Manila.
The 12,000-strong MILF, which is now negotiating peace with the government, has been accused by regional intelligence agencies of protecting and training Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) militants.
Muruad stressed they have no links with the JI, the Southeast Asian arm of Osama bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda network.
Libyan Ambassador Salem Adam said the envoys met Murad at his jungle camp near here two weeks ago. "They are looking forward to achieving peace, a lasting and comprehensive agreement and a solution to this problem," Adam told reporters.
The Islamic bloc envoys arrived here under tight guard to check on the progress of an autonomous Muslim government carved out of Mindanao under a 1996 peace pact between the government and the Moro National Liberation, formerly the largest Muslim secessionist group in the country. The MILF is a splinter group of the MNLF.
Adam said Murad assured him that "the MILF has no connection to the JI, and that they are calling on the government for a joint inspection" of MILF camps that the government alleges has harbored JI militants in the past.
The same invitation has also been extended to the Australian government, which rejected it.
Experts have said that a Malaysian JI militant tagged as behind the bombing outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta early this month had trained in bomb-making in MILF camps.
That attack killed nine people and left many others wounded. The JI was also blamed for the October 2002 bombings in Bali, Indonesia that left 202 people, mostly Australian tourists, dead.
Members of a joint MILF-government committee are to visit a mountain region at the heart of Mindanao island in November, or after the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
Negotiations with the government have so far led to a ceasefire and agreements to cooperate in flushing out foreign militants from MILF strongholds. But when the talks resume in October, they are likely to include political and economic issues.
MILF leaders said they plan to press Manila for self-governance and recognition of their "ancestral domain" to end their insurgency.
MILF deputy chief Ghazali Jaafar, speaking at his heavily fortified home in Mindanao, said Manila should acknowledge that the Bangsamoro, or Muslim people, historically ruled the south of this mostly Roman Catholic country.
"Mindanao was ruled by our ancestors and should be recognized as such and returned to us," Jaafar told Agence France Presse in an interview as he sat under the insurgents’ flag and closely guarded by two guerrillas wielding M-16 assault rifles.
"We want self-governance, a system by which we Muslims can solve the problems of our own people. And not just an agreement favoring a few Muslims leaders," he said.
This will all depend on President Arroyo, the rebel leader said but added the MILF leadership "is willing to sign an agreement if there is a favorable solution to the problem of the Bangsamoro who remain colonized."
"We are not negotiating for surrender," Jaafar said. "But we have been fighting for three decades and it is time we find a solution."
However, joining the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) is "unacceptable," he said, because it has been a failure and does not reflect "the will of the Bangsamoro."
The ARMM was created when the MNLF signed a peace pact with government in 1996.
It now consists of four mainly Muslim provinces and Marawi City on Mindanao, which remains poor despite the millions of dollars poured into it.
Many roads remain unpaved, and while a few shopping centers have been built, they are owned by settlers from elsewhere.
Unlicensed guns and private militias of rival warlords add to the problem.
"The so-called ARMM is not a real autonomy. It did not have power and answers still to the Manila government. It also did not contribute to the improvement in the lives of Muslims," Jaafar said.
"Look around you, we are still a poor people."
He said the MILF would avoid going the way of the MNLF, some of whose members joined the security forces after the pact. Many later reverted to rebellion.
MNLF leader Nur Misuari himself later led a failed rebellion when he was being removed as ARMM governor and is now languishing in a jail at Fort Sto. Domingo in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.
Jaafar said the government should not "limit the parameters of the discussions" and should consider several options.
While the rebels welcomed Manila’s dropping of criminal charges against their leaders, they will not lay down their arms until a "just and acceptable solution is found," he said.
A short man in his 50s, Jaafar, along with Muslim leaders such as the late Salamat Hashim and Misuari initiated the rebellion in the early 1970s.
Misuari, who headed the MNLF, and Hashim would later split, giving birth to the MILF.
When Mrs. Arroyo was swept to power in a military-backed popular revolt in 2001, she invited the MILF to the peace table. In 2002, a ceasefire was signed, leading to formal talks.
But the talks have been marred by deadly clashes, and by allegations by the military that the MILF has been sheltering militants of the Jemaah Islamiyah regional terror group — a claim repeatedly denied by the rebels.
Hashim died in 2003 of natural causes, leading to a power vacuum that slowed the peace process. In his place now is Murad Ebrahim, formerly head of the MILF’s 12,000-strong armed wing.
The talks are expected to resume next month, hosted by Malaysia, which in the 1970s had sheltered the insurgents who frequently crossed into its Sabah state.
In keeping with an agreement with the MILF in February, Armed Forces Southern Command chief Maj. Gen. Generoso Senga said the last phase of the withdrawal of elements from the 2nd Marine Brigade under Col. Ben Dolorfino was completed last Tuesday in Liguasan Marsh, a part of the Buliok complex.
The 2nd Marine Brigade was redeployed to the provinces of Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur, said Senga in a statement.
It did not say how many soldiers had been pulled out from Buliok, but the military had said in the past that more than 2,000 soldiers, mostly marines, were stationed in the area.
"The pullout was a gesture of faith and goodwill on the government’s part as peace talks resume between the state and the MILF," Senga said.
The President ordered the military to seize Buliok, near the town of Pikit, last year on grounds that MILF units in the area sheltered terrorists and kidnappers.
Senga said the 602nd Army Brigade was tasked in providing the security for the ongoing "Tulay ng Pangulo" project in Buliok.
He said a joint government-MILF ceasefire monitoring office was established in Bagoinged to monitor and coordinate all relevant issues affecting the peace process.
Similar ceasefire monitoring centers were also established in the Islamic center, Buliok, Pagalungan and Kitango, Datu Saudi Ampatuan, all in Maguindanao, according to Senga.
Adam stressed the secessionist problem is an internal problem of the Philippine government and that their main concern is finding a peaceful resolution to the peace and order problems in Mindanao.
Adam also brushed aside as another "domestic problem of the Philippine government" allegations by certain MNLF leaders that Malacañang has not religiously complied with some provisions of the Sept. 2, 1996 government-MNLF peace pact.
He and his Iranian counterpart, Jalal Kalantari, took turns assuring ARMM Gov. Parouk Hussin and his constituent-leaders in the region of the OIC’s support to Mrs. Arroyo’s peace overtures with Mindanao’s Muslim communities.
Adam said their purpose of initiating a dialogue with ARMM officials is to gather information on possible "humanitarian interventions" that OIC-member-states can fulfill in Mindanao to complement the peace process.
"We in the OIC have that Islamic fund which can be utilized for peace-building activities anywhere in the world," Adam told Hussin in the dialogue.
Hussin noted the arrival of the Islamic bloc envoys was a big boost to the efforts of the regional government to project that the ARMM is now a safe area for foreign investors to put up viable ventures.
"Their visit will let them see for themselves how we in the ARMM and other Muslim areas are helping Malacañang address the fiscal crisis now besetting our government," Hussin said. – With reports from AFP, Roel Pareño
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