[Reuters] Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte yesterday appealed to the Abu Sayyaf to end their campaign of piracy and kidnapping and begin direct talks with him, offering an olive branch towards a brutal terrorist group he previously vowed to destroy.
Just a few months ago, Duterte said there could be no peaceful solution for dealing with the Abu Sayyaf. But with 10,000 troops in the southern Philippines unable to curtail the hostage-taking and with civilians in the line of fire, he said all-out war is not the answer.
"I can be nasty, I can be a bad boy but I am talking about the nation. I can do it even now. I can bomb the hell out of them...but what would it bring us? You kill 20,000, you wipe out, blast it to kingdom come. Would it bring us peace if I use force? If you want to talk I can go to them anywhere. I can go alone. Let us give our people a chance," Duterte said of destroying the Abu Sayyaf, after visiting soldiers injured while fighting the rebels.
Yesterday, he said talks could happen if the militants stopped their illegal activities. He said, "I will build a hospital in Basilan, don’t kidnap the workers, allow them to work but if you can really stop it for a while, we'll talk."
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Thousands of Rohingya Muslims who have fled to Bangladesh from Myanmar where they have been attacked by security forces are being pushed back by the Bangladeshi authorities, according to Amnesty International. Those that do make it to makeshift camps in the town of Cox’s Bazaar are facing shortages of food and water, and some are suffering from severe malnutrition.
The Rohingya are fleeing military operations in Myanmar in which scores of people have been killed and as many as 30,000 displaced. The attacks are in reprisal for an assault on three border posts last month that left nine Myanmar police officers dead, but the Rohingya have been persecuted in the country for years.
Bangladeshi border guards have detained and forcibly returned hundreds of people, Amnesty said on Friday. The actions were in violation of international law, which prohibits the return of people to a country or place where they are at serious risk, it added.
“The Rohingya are being squeezed by the callous actions of both the Burmese [Myanmar] and Bangladesh authorities,” said Champa Patel, Amnesty’s South Asia director.
“Fleeing collective punishment in Burma, they are being pushed back by the Bangladesh authorities. Trapped between these cruel fates, their desperate need for food, water and medical care is not being addressed.”
She added: “The Bangladeshi government must not add to the suffering of the Rohingya. They should be recognised and protected as refugees fleeing persecution, not punished for who they are.”
As if Bangladesh doesn't have enough problems. Who exactly pays to maintain the refugees?
Earlier this week, a senior UN official, John McKissick, accused Myanmar of seeking to ethnically cleanse the country of its Muslim minority.
Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s de facto leader, has been criticised for not doing more to end the military actions, which – according to witness accounts given to Amnesty – include firing at villagers from helicopter gunships, torching hundreds of homes, carrying out arbitrary arrests and raping women and girls.
The Myanmar government has denied allegations of human rights violations by the military and has accused “Rohingya lobbyists” of disseminating fabricated accounts. Access to the area for aid workers, human rights monitors and independent journalists is effectively barred, said Amnesty.
There are about 1 million Rohingya in Myanmar who are denied citizenship. Hundreds of thousands have fled to Bangladesh, many of whom live in camps in Cox’s Bazaar. The Bangladesh government has refused to grant refugee status to Rohingya arriving from Myanmar since 1992.
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Posted by: Steve White ||
11/26/2016 00:00 ||
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[Bangkok Post] Two militants wanted on a number of arrest warrants were shot dead in an exchange of gunfire with rangers in Yala province around noon on Friday. The clash broke out shortly after the two men aboard a motorcycle refused to stop for a search at a security checkpoint in Raman district. The two fired shots at the rangers, who returned fire and killed them.
The pair were identified as Masupiyan Yakumor, wanted for murder and attempted murder and separatist activities in Raman and Bacho districts. The rangers had set up checkpoints on local roads after receiving information from area residents that militants were active at Ban Aekaeng village.
Authorities believe the duo were in the area planning attacks.
Continued on Page 47
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Reuters] Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte yesterday appealed to the Abu Sayyaf to end their campaign of piracy and kidnapping and begin direct talks with him, offering an olive branch towards a brutal terrorist group he previously vowed to destroy.
[Bangkok Post] Two militants wanted on a number of arrest warrants were shot dead in an exchange of gunfire with rangers in Yala province around noon on Friday. The clash broke out shortly after the two men aboard a motorcycle refused to stop for a search at a security checkpoint in Raman district. The two fired shots at the rangers, who returned fire and killed them. 
