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| Southeast Asia |
| MILF offers to broker truce in Sulu |
| 2005-11-27 |
| The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on Saturday offered to broker a ceasefire between troops and Muslim rebel forces in the southern Philippine island of Jolo. Fierce fighting the past two weeks have killed dozens of Moro National Liberation Front members and soldiers in Jolo's Indanan and Panamao towns. The military accused the MNLF of aiding Abu Sayyaf terrorists, blamed for the series of attacks and bombings in Jolo, about 950 kms south of Manila. "The MILF is willing to mediate and broker for a ceasefire to save lives and properties and to bring back peace in Jolo," an MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu said. He said the MILF would appeal to the government to halt offensives on the island to allow peaceful negotiations. "Peace is important and we should allow peace to return in Jolo. People should live peacefully and that is what we are trying to do, just like the MILF, when it signed a truce agreement with the government," he said. Jolo military chief Brigadier General Alexander Aleo said troops security forces were still pursuing Abu Sayyaf terrorists, who splintered into smaller groups in Mount Tumatangis in Indanan town. "The terrorists are holed out in the mountain and troops are tracking them. We will not stop our operations against the Abu Sayyaf and the groups that are supporting or aiding them," Aleo said on Saturday. Aleo also denied reports that US soldiers were involved in the operation against the Abu Sayyaf. He said a small group of US troops are on the island because of humanitarian mission. "The American soldiers are part of a humanitarian mission in Jolo under the joint RP-US Project Bayanihan. They are not directly involved in any operation against the terrorists in Jolo," he said. The fighting in Jolo erupted after Abu Sayyaf militants raided a military post in Indanan town on November 11. But officials said the MNLF sided with the Abu Sayyaf and in many instances fought alongside with them. MNLF leader Haber Malik denied the accusation and said security forces were attacking their positions on the island. In February, some 25 soldiers and 120 MNLF and Abu Sayyaf members had been killed in weeks of fierce clashes following a rebel attack in Jolo. Most of the attackers were loyal supporters of jailed MNLF leader Nur Misuari. Misuari formerly headed the MNLF that accepted limited autonomy and signed a peace deal with the government in 1996. But violence flared again in November 2001 after some 200 former rebels, backed by the Abu Sayyaf, attacked a major army base in Jolo. Another MNLF faction also held hostage some 100 people in Zamboanga City, but freed them after days of government negotiations. Misuari later escaped to Malaysia where he was arrested and deported back to the Philippines, where he was imprisoned on charges of rebellion, which carry a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. But thousands of his followers and supporters still maintain strongholds in Jolo. Many Abu Sayyaf militants were former members of the MNLF. Aid workers said the latest hostilities forced more than 2,500 people to flee their homes in Jolo for fear that they would be caught in the cross-fire or held hostage by rebels. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |