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MILF still harboring JI members
Two Al Qaida-linked Indonesian terrorists who masterminded the 2002 Bali bombing that killed 202 people are believed to be coddled by splinter groups of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said yesterday.Col. Gaudencio Pangilinan, head of the AFP Counter-Intelligence Group, reported to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in yesterdays Command Conference in Malacañang that Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) bomb experts Umar Patek and Dulmatin are either in Basilan or in Jolo. We have received information that the two are either in Jolo or in Basilan where they are being protected by MILF factions, Pangilinan said in an interview after the security meeting. The AFP leader said the two key suspects in the Bali bombings have reportedly revived an MILF training camp where they have been recruiting clean skins and plotting attacks. Washington, Manilas closest security partner in the region and the countrys biggest source of military assistance, has put up an $11 million bounty for the arrest of the terrorists. US officials have also criticized the government for failing to cut the JI-links of some MILF groups while peace negotiations are ongoing with the Muslim rebels. Pangilinan admitted that the recent intelligence report should be taken seriously by negotiators both from the government panel and the MILF to ensure that terror links would not jeopardize the signing of a peace accord this year. We have to discuss this with the MILF. Are their splinter groups taking the government for a spin by coddling those terrorists and negotiating peace at the same time? We have to be sure, Pangilinan said. For his part, AFP spokesman Col. Tristan Kison said the MILF central command has been very cooperative in tracing the whereabouts of Dulmatin and Patek. Our intelligence officers are verifying this report. It is possible that a training camp has been activated, but the MILF is helping us on this. There are certain areas that are considered their strongholds and we respect that, Kison said in a separate interview. The terror threat, along with the renewed efforts of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New Peoples Army to recruit more members, was the main topic in yesterdays meeting with the President, Kison said. We are tracking down these personalities. We have reason to believe that they have not yet left the country. MILF chief negotiator Mohaqher Iqbal has assured the government that MILF splinter groups are being isolated to finally pin down the JI terrorists. We renounced terrorism as an instrument to achieve our political goals. Were helping isolate and interdict terrorists in our areas, but weve not validated the presence of JI members in our camps, Iqbal said. The government and the Muslim rebel group are expected to sign a final agreement on ancestral domain issues after achieving a breakthrough in their recent informal talks in Malaysia this month. The Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process has set a timeline for the signing of the peace accord this year to finally end more than three decades of secessionist movement in the southern region. Posted by: Dan Darling 2006-02-17 |
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