President Arroyo on Monday said ongoing peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) would not deter government troops from pursuing terrorists reportedly being coddled by the rebel group.
| That'll raise Eid Kabalu's indignancy quotient... |
The President made the statement as she ordered government peace negotiators to discuss with their rebel counterparts reports that Jemaah Islamiyah (JI)) operatives have been training in alleged MILF lairs. MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu denied the accusations of Defense Secretary Eduardo Ermita that the rebels were coddling JI trainees inside their camps, calling this a âdiversionary tactic to preempt the peace talks.â
"Lies! All lies!"
Eid's a broken record, isn't he? |
In a phone interview, Kabalu said that Ermita is trying to âcondition the minds of the public away from the governmentâs inefficiencyâ amid the rising crime in Metro Manila. âItâs saddening, considering the steady progress in the preparations for the resumption of peace talks,â Kabalu said, as he described Ermitaâs statement as âprovocative.â
| "Don't provoke us! You know what happens when you provoke us!" |
Ermita said he received reports of the âallegedâ training sessions from Mindanao-based intelligence agents monitoring the remaining JI elements. âThat kind of statement will only confuse the military. Itâs not helping at all in the current efforts of both sides [to resume peace negotiations]. In fact, itâs undermining the credibility of the exploratory talks,â said Kabalu.
| Assuming they had any credibility to start with. I'm wondering why the PI government is bothering... |
Still, Kabalu said that the door to the formal peace talks is not yet shut, as âour lines are still openâ about the peace talks.
| "We may deign to discuss accepting your surrender. Wanna touch my turban?" |
Mrs. Arroyo said that while the government is bent on pursuing peace with the rebels, it would not allow peace talks to hinder counterterrorism efforts. She reminded the group of its âstanding commitmentâ to help the government apprehend terrorists. âI have directed the Government peace panel to bring this matter to the attention of the MILF in the proper forum. We have asked the MILF to purge itself of terrorists and we have a standing commitment from the MILF to do so,â she said.
| That'd empty its ranks. There wouldn't be anybody left to have talks with... |
She said âthe government will not allow the peace process to stand in the way of the overriding fight against terrorism.â Government forces, she said, will pursue terrorists âwherever they areâ and the MILF is bound by an agreement it had signed with the government last year, where the rebel group vowed to turn over to the government terrorists and criminals straying into its lairs. |