AFP doubts MILF coddling Sayyaf leader Janjalani

Armed Forces chief Lt. Gen. Generoso Senga cleared the Moro Islamic Liberation (MILF) of any blame yesterday in the accidental clash between the rebels and troops running after Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khaddafy Janjalani and his band of terrorists.

"There is no reason to believe that the MILF organization itself is coddling him (Janjalani)," he said.

"Maliwanag yung kasunduan (The agreement is clear), ’yung (the) understanding between the GRP and the MILF that they will assist in the effort to hunt down these terrorists, and we have seen indications in the past that they (MILF) are sincerely abiding by this agreement," he said.

Senga blamed "kinks" or operational lapses for Monday’s encounter between Army soldiers and MILF guerrillas in Barangay Gawang, Datu Saudi Ampatuan in Maguindanao.

In the past, the MILF had been sincere in assisting the military in hunting down Janjalani and his men, he added.

However, Senga said the military would investigate the incident, which he claimed should not have happened in the first place.

"We shall look into this so that we can clarify matters," he said.

"We do not want that such things impede our efforts, our operations. We have vowed to pursue these terrorists until the end, and we do not want na merong mga ganitong mga pangyayari (that this would occur)," he said.

Meanwhile, the MILF said in a statement it had warned the military that absence of coordination and "blessings" from the Joint Monitoring and Assistance Center (JMAC) might cause a "misencounter" between troops and the MILF.

Army commander Maj. Gen. Hermogenes Esperon has sent American-trained anti-terror troops to track down Janjalani and his men in Mindanao and other parts of the country, including Metro Manila.

Military and MILF ground commanders have traded accusations on the lapses of coordination.

The Armed Forces Southern Command has reported that five rebels were killed, while two soldiers were wounded when fighting erupted in Datu Saudi Ampatuan at about 5 a.m. Monday.

Col. Domingo Tutaan, Southcom chief of staff and spokesman, said the troops sighted Janjalani’s band and terrorists from the Indonesia-based Jemaah Islamiyah when they encountered the MILF rebels.

The MILF claimed a separatist faction under Commander Wahid Tundok killed four soldiers during the encounter in Badak, Barangay Madia.

The military said it was Tundok’s men who attacked the military detachment in Talayan early this year that broke a ceasefire between the government and the MILF after almost two years of implementation. — Jaime Laude, Roel Pareño