|
By Al Jacinto, Correspondent
SULU: The morale of Philippine troops fighting
the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group sagged on reports that the
government would negotiate for the surrender of a top Muslim rebel
blamed for a spate of killings and bombings in southern Mindanao
region.
The reports said the government was open to
talks with Radulan Sahiron of the Abu Sayyaf and one of the
Philippines’ most wanted terrorist leaders. Sahiron is also wanted
by the United States on terrorism charges and it has offered a
$5-million bounty for his capture.
Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said Sahiron has
sent surrender feelers and wanted to avail of the government’s
amnesty program, including livelihood aid. Gonzalez was quoted as
saying that payment to rebels and giving them jobs are not new since
the government had offered amnesty to members of the New People’s
Army, armed wing of the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines.
But the military said rebels from Abu Sayyaf
cannot avail of the amnesty program because their group is
terrorist.
“The Abu Sayyaf group is not included in the
amnesty program because it is classified as a terrorist
organization. [Its] leaders and members are terrorists and
cold-blooded murderers not worthy of the good intention of the
amnesty program,” Army Maj. Eugene Batara, a regional military
spokesman, told The Manila Times.
Government troops fighting the Abu Sayyaf in
Sulu province were dismayed by Manila’s plan to open negotiations
with Sahiron, said to be the leader of an Abu Sayyaf gang that is
holding ABS-CBN television reporter Ces Oreña-Drilon and her
cameraman Jimmy Encarnacion, including their guide, university
professor Octavio Dinampo.
Drilon’s group was kidnapped on June 8 in
Maimbung, Sulu, while on their way to interview Sahiron after
reports on his supposed surrender surfaced.
“We are demoralized by what we hear about
Sahiron and how the government is biting his propaganda. The
government should not even talk or negotiate with terrorists. The
Abu Sayyaf is a terrorist group and Sahiron should be
neutralized,” one soldier said.
Police sources who knew Sahiron said he is not
likely to surrender. “Because with his string of criminal cases
and being on the US list of wanted terrorists, surrendering to
authorities is not an easy option,” a senior police captain in
Sulu said.
The Abu Sayyaf, also known as al-Harakat al
Islamiah, or “Bearer of the Sword,” is originally fighting for
the establishment of an independent Islamic state in Mindanao. It
resorted to banditry after its leader, Libyan firebrand Ustadz
Abubakar Abdurajak Janjalani, was killed in 1998 during a gunbattle
with police forces in Basilan province, also in Mindanao.
|
