(AKI) - Police on Friday filed criminal charges against two field commanders of the Muslim separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front and more than 80 others for the alleged murder of civilians in the southern province of Mindanao. Leader Abdulrahman Macapaar, alias Commander Bravo, and Kato Umbra, were charged in the Provincial Prosecutor's Office in Lanao del Norte Lanao with double murder, robbery and arson.
| The rebel group has rejected government demands for the surrender of the two renegade commanders. Both have a 113,000 dollar bounty on them for recent attacks. |
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Thursday abandoned a peace deal with the MILF after Christians and politicians in Mindanao objected to what they feared was as a move to create an independent Muslim state.
According to the GMA News website, police cited Bravo and his men for the deadly attacks that occurred in various villages in North Cotabato province last Monday, where 36 people, mostly civilians, were killed.
Meanwhile , more than 25,000 people are believed to have been displaced in the recent violence.
Kato's men have been blamed for the clashes that erupted when they occupied scores of villages in North Cotabato province last week, as well as for attacks last Monday. Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno called on the MILF leadership to help the police in apprehending and bringing to justice the renegade commanders and their co-conspirators. "The filing of cases against the suspects are already known to the MILF central committee. We are hoping that they will assist the government in bringing to justice these lawless elements," Puno reportedly said. "If they are truly committed to peace and want the peace process to continue, then we expect them fully to cooperate with our system of justice."