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Muslim rebels of the Moro Islamic
Liberation Front briefly detained an Army detachment Sunday amid
warnings that the fragile four-year ceasefire may be on the verge of
collapse.
The rebels
detained about 20 soldiers after seven MILF fighters were held by
the military earlier near the market town of Lumba Bayabao, Maguindanao.
The officer
commanding the area, Maj. Gen. Ben Delorfino, said the two-hour
standoff was resolved after the MILF and military agreed to swap
detainees.
Delorfino, who
coordinated the 2003 ceasefire between the military and the
12,000-strong MILF, said trouble started when a seven-member MILF
unit tried to arrest a suspected cattle rustler in the town.
The MILF unit was
later detained at a military checkpoint.
Delorfino said a
larger MILF force then surrounded a nearby army outpost and disarmed
about 20 soldiers.
“It has been
resolved now,” he said. “It was all a small misunderstanding.”
Earlier the MILF
said in a statement posted on its website the ceasefire may collapse
due to the “military’s arrogance and defiance.”
It said the MILF
would not take the military’s repeated aggression “sitting
down.”
Tensions have
been building for more than a week following fierce clashes last
Monday and Tuesday which left 17 MILF rebels and a soldier dead and
displaced some 4,000 civilians around the town of Midsayap in
Mindanao.
On Friday a
60-year-old woman was killed and her 15-year-old grandson injured
when they were caught in a crossfire during a clash between MILF
rebels and government troops.
The MILF’s
chief negotiator, Mohagher Iqbal, said Sunday the military’s
“consistent and deliberate violations” of the ceasefire were a
repeat of what it did in 2000 and 2003, when similar agreements were
broken.
The current
ceasefire—which is being monitored by an international monitoring
team headed by Malaysia—has been in place for nearly four years.
Executive
Secretary Eduardo Ermita was quoted as saying the military was
ordered to preserve the ceasefire and maintain security in the area.
“The ceasefire
committees of both sides are working with the international
monitoring team to ensure that isolated hostilities will not
escalate,” Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said Sunday.
The MILF claimed
military aircraft had been used to bomb villages and kill innocent
civilians. The military has not commented on the allegation.
The international
donor community on Friday urged President Arroyo to push for the
signing of the final peace agreement with the MILF to improve peace
and order, and spur economic growth in resource-rich Mindanao.
The MILF has been
waging a separatist rebellion since 1978. It signed a truce with
Manila in 2003, paving the way for peace talks.
 --AFP
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