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MILF refuses to surrender "renegade" commanders
Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels have rejected a government demand that they surrender 60 rebel commanders and their men who attacked two Army outposts in Maguindanao on Jan. 10. "The MILF will definitely punish those responsible for the attacks, but turning them over to the government is out of the question," said Jun Mantawil, MILF peace panel chairman. The government has given the MILF 72 hours to surrender renegade commanders Ustadz Wahid and Abdul Rahman Binago and their men, who allegedly executed six soldiers during the attack on the military outposts. At least 13 MILF rebels were killed in the ensuing firefight and military mopping-up operations. Armed Forces spokesman Brig. Gen. Alexander Yano said Wahid, Binago and their men will now be considered common criminals, and troops have orders to hunt them down. At Malacañang, Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said yesterday the Muslim raiders who attacked the Army posts last weekend in Mamasapano were nothing but "terrorists" and "rogues" outside the mainstream MILF which continues its peace talks with the government. "The terrorists are being isolated by the peace process and they are constricted by coordinated regional action in Asia," Bunye said, citing that neighboring countries support the Philippines in the regional anti-terror campaign. Speaking to reporters yesterday, Mantawil said the MILF will invoke the government-MILF ceasefire agreement in the handling of the MILF guerrillas who attacked the two military detachments. Mantawil said the attack was not sanctioned by the MILF central committee but was an apparent retaliation for the killing of kidnap gang leader Bides Binago in an encounter with government troops last week. "The media only quoted from Secretary Silvestre Afable Jr., chairman of the government peace panel, there was no formal demand made by the government," he said. "This is an unfortunate turn of events, particularly after the peace talks have regained some ground with the resumption in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia recently." The government and MILF peace panels met yesterday at Marco Polo Hotel in Davao City to discuss the attack. President Arroyo herself clarified that her administration's peace policy does not conflict with the government's all-out war policy against terrorism. Bunye said that no less than the Malaysian-led International Monitoring Team that supervises the ceasefire in Mindanao and the Joint Ceasefire Committees have stepped up their efforts to prevent such renegade elements of the MILF to get away with their crimes. In Maguindanao, more soldiers have been deployed in remote detachments in Kabuntalan town in anticipation of an attack by MILF renegades. "The instruction is for us to maintain our defensive posture and stay put in our detachments," said Lt. Col. Julieto Ando, Army 6th Infantry Battalion commander. "We will only return fire if fired upon." Policemen and soldiers belonging to "Task Force Tugis," a quick reaction, anti-crime brigade of the 6th Infantry Division, killed Usi Abo, a leader of MILF renegades, and his 19-year-old son, Bandar, after Abo's band attacked an isolated military detachment in Kabuntalan the other day. Reports said Abo and his men opened fire first at soldiers sent to verify their reported presence in Kapilpilan here, triggering a running gunbattle. MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu was quoted by radio station dxMS in Kabuntalan yesterday as saying that the slain gunmen were not MILF members, but a "lawless group" preying on poor Muslim residents of Kabuntalan and surrounding towns. Abo and his followers were first spotted in Kapilpilan by Muslim villagers, who reported their presence to the Army's 6th Infantry Battalion. Local sources have linked Abo and his son to Ustadz Wahid, the leader of the MILF renegades that attacked an Army detachment in Mamasapano, Maguindanao last Monday. Seven soldiers were killed in the attack. Wahid and his men also set fire to 36 bunkers inside the detachment and robbed the slain soldiers of their belongings, combat boots and service firearms before escaping to a nearby marshland. Posted by: Dan Darling 2005-01-16 |
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