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Muslim separatists on Thursday accused “hawkish”
Philippine officials of trying to sabotage peace talks.
Moro Islamic Liberation Front
Chairman Murad Ebrahim welcomed President Arroyo’s move this week
to rein in military units operating in rebel-held areas in Mindanao
to salvage the talks but said some officials were undermining these
efforts.
Heavy clashes near Midsayap town
in Maguindanao last week left 17 MILF rebels and a soldier dead. The
MILF said the fighting erupted when troops advanced into rebel-held
areas in violation of an earlier agreement to pull back.
The violence was another obstacle
to resuming peace talks, which have been stalled since late last
year over demands by Murad’s group for economic control of what
they claim are ancestral lands.
The truce is being monitored by a
small team of Malaysian, Libyan and Brunei monitors.
The MILF central committee is
“to keep combatants in place” in conflict zones because there
are “spoilers of the peace process” among the government ranks,
Murad said in a statement.
“On the part of MILF, war is
not being stepped up. But the MILF will keep a short list of those
intent at breaking the peace, including hawkish military officers
and policymakers,” Murad said.
He did not name those on the list
or say what the MILF intended to do about them.
Earlier this week, the President
reminded military field commanders to be “constantly aware of the
strategic implications of tactical actions in the proximity of MILF
areas.”
She ordered the defense
department to devise a plan that ensured all levels of the military
understood the peace negotiations.
But Murad on Thursday said a
“prolonged cessation of hostilities” could only be achieved when
troops are stripped of their powers to patrol civilian Muslim
communities.
Troops often “disregard the
preventive measures” to avoid violence, leading to fighting, Murad
said.
“I have no doubt about keeping
up the struggle to mobilize the population through a principled
level of negotiation,” he said. “Peace will reign when the
military solution is contained and . . . violations are not
repeated.”
Military and government officials
were not immediately available for comment, but the military brass
earlier this week began withdrawing from Midsayap villages.
The MILF also hit back at claims
it is involved in manufacturing of drugs to raise cash.
The head of the US antidrug task
force in Southeast Asia, Rear Admiral Paul Zukunfit, said Wednesday
that millions of dollars generated by drugs may be finding its way
into the hands of communist and Muslim rebels in the Philippines.
MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu denied
the separatists were engaged in any drug-related activities.
“One, it is unIslamic and two,
we remain faithful to a government truce that also calls on us to
help track down criminals,” he said.
“The MILF totally denies this
report. We are in fact trying to help contain this problem in local
communities,” Kabalu said.
The Philippine National Police
spokesman, Chief Supt. Samuel Pagdilao, told local radio Thursday it
was an established fact the communist New People’s Army
“operates” marijuana plantations in the northern Cordillera
highlands.
“What we are trying to confirm
now is if manufacturers of shabu [the banned stimulant
methampethamine hydrochloride, or ice, which is the most widely
available illegal drug in the Philippines] provide funds for the
secessionists and other groups,” he said.
--AFP
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