THE Moro Islamic Liberation Front (milf) on Friday denied the organization as being split by the âdovesâ and âhawksâ for and against the resumption of peace talks with the government. âWe are solid as an organization,â Eid Kabalu, the milf spokesman, said.
| If Eid said it, I don't believe it... |
âWe all want peace in Mindanao, so we are all for the resumption of peace talks. That has been our stand ever since.â
| "Careful! You just stepped on one of my lips!" |
Defense Secretary Eduardo Ermita told foreign journalists on Thursday that there seems to be a power struggle within the largest secessionist organization between pragmatists and hardliners. According to Ermita, the milf leadership is not solidly behind the peace talks and that these factions are the ones coddling foreign terrorists, particularly members of Jemaah Islamiah, in their camps in the Lanao regions. Kabalu said the military intelligence gathered information that at least 31 JI members, mostly Indonesian, have undergone training in the milf camps. He dismissed Ermitaâs revelations as âbaselessâ and a ârehashed accusation meant on disrupting the peace negotiation.â
| "MILF would never do anything to disrupt peace negotiations! We take them â hey! Is that Elvis over there? â seriously." |
âIt seems like the government is having an internal conflict whether to push through with the negotiations or not. Itâs not us, itâs them,â Kabalu said in a telephone interview. |