EDITORIAL – Coddling fugitives

From Manila to Zamboanga and even Bali and Jakarta in Indonesia, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front keeps getting special mention. International news reports have said al-Qaeda members have trained militants in the former camps of the MILF. The brother-in-law of Osama bin Laden, the world’s most wanted man, was said to have worked with the MILF until he disappeared shortly after the terrorist attacks in the United States on Sept. 11 last year. Jemaah Islamiyah, the Islamist group operating in Southeast Asia, which is being eyed in the deadly bombings in Bali earlier this month, is said to have links with the MILF.

The MILF is also being mentioned in connection with the recent bombings in Zamboanga City and Quezon City. Now there are reports that a principal suspect in the bombing of a shopping center in General Santos City, who escaped from police custody last week in Sarangani province, may have taken refuge in MILF enclaves. Prior to his arrest for the bombing, Abdul Basit Usman was believed to have engaged in extortion activities for the MILF.

It is not the first time that the MILF has been eyed as a coddler of fugitives. At the height of depredations perpetrated by the Abu Sayyaf in Basilan and Sulu, government troops were already complaining that members of the group were seeking refuge in MILF enclaves, which authorities could not touch because of on-and-off negotiations for peace between the group and the government. Local go-vernment, military and police officials have said the Pentagon kidnap-for-ransom gang is the extortion arm of the MILF.

The MILF naturally has denied all the allegations. MILF commanders have also said that training activities by al-Qaeda members at MILF camps were conducted before the peace process with the government started. The allegations and intelligence reports about the MILF, however, cannot be dismissed outright. Even as the government bends over backwards to give peace a chance, it should look into the illegal activities attributed to the MILF, including the latest on Abdul Basit Usman. And if the group is sincere in its peace efforts, it should help bring an accused murderer like Usman to justice.