MILF leader coddling Janjalani, says AFP

A military intelligence report has tagged a commander of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) as the coddler and protector of Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khaddafy Janjalani and his followers now holed up in Central Mindanao.

According to the report, MILF Commander Kagui Samir Salamat has been providing refuge to Janjalani’s group in Barangay Pawas in Datu Piang, Maguindanao.

Other Abu Sayyaf leaders who are believed to be with Janjalani include Jainal Sali, alias Abu Solaiman; Gumbahali Jumdail, alias Doctor Abu; Omar Ruayan, Sin Abdul Hir, Ustadz Hata Haipe, and a certain Usman, Tapay and Ismin, the intelligence report said.

Earlier, the Armed Forces said the movements of Janjalani’s group have been restricted within Talayan, Maguindanao and the bandits’ days were numbered.

The intelligence report came as the government and the MILF are preparing for the resumption of formal peace talks in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia this month.

MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu belied the report when sought for comment, saying that MILF guerrillas are even helping the military track down Janjalani and his followers.

"It’s a very exaggerated report. The MILF is not coddling the Abu Sayyaf," Kabalu told Camp Aguinaldo reporters in a phone interview.

Kabalu said there is no MILF commander by the name of Kagui Samir Salamat, but added that it sounds like Hajji Samir Hashim, the only living brother of the late MILF chairman Salamat Hashim.

He said MILF rebels have not returned to their camps in Talayan and Guindolongan towns, where the military has been hunting down Janjalani’s group since July.

"That’s the strategy of the Abu Sayyaf. They lurk near our lairs so the military cannot strike fast," Kabalu said, adding that the MILF continues to coordinate with the military.

He said the clash between military and MILF forces in Datu Saudi Ampatuan town, which left at least two soldiers wounded, was just a "misencounter."

Meanwhile, Marines raided a suspected smuggling base of the Abu Sayyaf in Sulu at dawn yesterday, seizing a modern speedboat, two light machineguns and 130 boxes of cigarettes.

Maj. Rommel Abrau, spokesman of the Marines, said the raiding team also confiscated an M-14 rifle and four boxes of ammunition for the seized M50 and M60 machineguns from the bandits’ lair in Barangay Pandanan, Kalingalang Kaluang town.