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By Al Jacinto, Correspondent
ZAMBOANGA CITY: Fighting ceased
Friday between Muslim rebels and government troops in the southern
Philippine island-province of Basilan, but tension is still high as
both sides accused each other of violating a fragile truce.
"There is still tension
because of the skirmishes in Basilan. We are more vigilant now than
ever after soldiers attacked our forces in the province," said
Mohagher Iqbal, chief peace negotiator of the Moro Islamic
Liberation Front (MILF).
Manila is currently negotiating
peace with the MILF. But the rebel group accused the Arroyo
government of delaying the peace talks after negotiations were
stalled last year over demands for ancestral domain.
The ancestral domain is the
single most important issue in the peace negotiations before the
MILF can reach a political settlement, and with the talks stalled,
the hope of ending more than three decades of bloody hostilities
remains dim.
Manila said the provisions of the
peace agreement should be within the framework of the Constitution.
Exchanging accusations
The fighting in Basilan just off
Zamboanga City was triggered by attacks on rebels working on a farm,
Iqbal said. But the military accused the MILF of attacking a group
of marines securing a road project in Tipo-Tipo town.
"The rebels [were the ones]
who first attacked our security forces and the troops only
retaliated. But the fighting is not as serious as what the MILF
claimed. There are exchanges of sniper fires between our troops and
the rebels and we have no reports of casualties," said Marines
Chief Gen. Mohammad Dolorfino.
The fighting erupted after
Malaysia, which is brokering the peace negotiations, pulled out its
truce observers last week from Mindanao because of the slow progress
of the negotiations.
Iqbal said security forces also
raided the house of Mike Dalem, an MILF political officer, in Buluan
town in Maguindanao province in the main island of Mindanao.
"Dalem was on the mosque
praying when soldiers swooped down on his house and confiscated
munitions owned by the MILF," he said.
It was not immediately known
whether the raid was with a court order or not. Iqbal said the raid
was illegal and violated the ceasefire agreement the government
signed with the MILF.
The rebels have repeatedly warned
that fighting could erupt if Malaysia pulls out its truce observers.
The Philippine military has been
building up its forces in Mindanao the past weeks and the MILF fears
that renewed hostilities may break out, because troops were reported
massing near areas controlled by rebels in Maguindanao and Lanao del
Sur provinces.
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