EDITORIAL - Terrorist trainers

There’s just no going around this issue, even in the name of peace. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front has long been suspected of harboring militants of Jemaah Islamiyah, the Southeast Asian terrorist cell loosely linked to al-Qaeda that was responsible for the nightclub bombings in Bali, Indonesia. Now four MILF members have been arrested and accused of involvement in JI terrorist activities. One of the four, Sammy Abdulgani, has admitted being a member of both the MILF and JI, and confirmed that JI militants trained in MILF camps in Mindanao.

MILF leaders have admitted that the four are members of their group and are accusing the government of violating a ceasefire agreement. It would be better for the MILF leadership, however, to first answer accusations that it conti-nues to harbor terrorists at the same time that it makes a show of pursuing peace. The administration, which by some accounts wants a peace agreement with the MILF to be a legacy of President Arroyo, has been pussyfooting around this terrorism issue, trying to wish the problem away.

That’s not going to happen. Just recently, security officials said JI militants were being harbored by what appeared to be a renegade faction of the MILF. Now it turns out – by the MILF’s own admission – that the militants are regular members of the separatist group. How do you pursue genuine peace with a group that trains members in the ways of terrorism?

The threat posed by JI cannot be downplayed. Apart from the Bali attack, JI has been held responsible for the December 2000 bombings that killed 19 commuters on the Light Rail Transit in Manila as well as a policeman in Makati. Abdulgani said he bombed the Awang airport in Cotabato City and a bus terminal in Maguindanao last year. When confronted about their links with JI, MILF commanders claim the terrorist training camps have been dismantled.

Some MILF leaders may be truly interested in peace. Abdulgani gives them a way out: he says he is torn between being a member of the MILF, which wants peace, and being a member of JI, whose objective is to sow terror. Instead of demanding the turnover of the four arrested militants, it would be better for the MILF to purge its ranks. If MILF commanders have no control over their guerrillas, they have no business discussing peace with the government.