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| Southeast Asia |
| MILF dares Gunaratna to prove JI claims |
| 2006-04-23 |
| THE MORO Islamic Liberation Front has dared a Singaporean security expert to prove his statements that the MILF continued to coddle members of the regional terror group Jemaah Islamiyah. Mohagher Iqbal, MILF’s chief peace negotiator, said Rohan Gunaratna, head of the political violence and terrorism center at Singapore’s Institute of Defense and Strategic Studies, “believes in something that is not necessarily true.” “It’s more on speculation rather than a statement of facts. It’s very easy to say that rebel organizations like us are protecting terrorists. But how to validate it is another thing,” he said. Gunaratna had said at the sidelines of the counterterror forum being held on Mactan Island in Cebu that the MILF continued to shelter one or two JI factions in Mindanao despite the peace negotiations with the government. “The MILF has constantly lied that it is not harboring JI,” Gunaratna said as quoted by a Reuters dispatch. “If he points a finger to anybody, he should bear in mind that four of his fingers are also pointing at him. If he reports somebody’s wrongdoing, it should be validated first,” Iqbal said. Iqbal said the MILF was not hiding anything and previous inspections of its camps by government and private peace monitors failed to prove the presence of terrorists there. He said claims of terror links between the MILF and the JI had always been an irritant but said it would not hinder the peace process being brokered by the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). “Singapore has nothing to do with the talks. We don’t need them. It’s only a little country,” Iqbal said. He said the MILF, as a legitimate rebel organization, had not espoused terrorism to pursue its ideals. “In fact, we agreed (with the government) to form the Adhoc Joint Action Group which, in a way, is also a campaign against terrorism. What more can we do to prove that we are serious in the campaign on terror?” he said. Under the AHJAG concept, MILF fighters will help the government run after lawless elements in areas considered MILF territory. The peace talks between the government and the MILF are expected to resume next month. Negotiators from both sides failed two weeks ago to iron out major differences on the issue of ancestral domain. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |