Militias Execute 3 MILF Prisoners In Maguindanao As Fighting Rages On

COTABATO CITY (Zamboanga Journal / 05 Jul) Paramilitary forces executed at least 3 Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels captured in the southern Philippine province of Maguindanao where clashes between the two groups continue since last week, an MILF spokesman said Wednesday.

"Three of our members were executed, probably tortured first and then killed by musketry by militias. The fighting is going and there is no sign of it ever stopping today or tomorrow. The situation now is chaotic and there are fighting in several fronts," Eid Kabalu, a rebel spokesman, told the Zamboanga Journal.

Kabalu accused armed civilians and militias working for Andal Ampatuan, the governor of Maguindanao, as behind simultaneous attacks on a major MILF headquarters Camp Omar in the town of Shariff Aguak in retaliation to a bomb attack June 23 on a convoy carrying the politician.

Ampatuan, a former rebel leader of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), escaped unhurt, but the bombing killed 5 people, including his nephew, and wounded 14 others.

Police and military accused the MILF of masterminding the attack and ordered the arrest of two senior rebel leaders Jamil Ombra, commander of the 105th Base Command in Camp Omar and his deputy Sajid Pakiladato, tagged as behind the roadside bombing in Shariff Aguak. The MILF denied the accusations and refused to surrender the duo.

Kabalu said fighting on Wednesday was fierce in Shariff Aguak, although sporadic clashes were also reported in Datu Piang, Datu Unsay and Mamasapano towns, all in Maguindanao. "These clashes have already displaced more than 2,000 families," he said.

The MILF accused militias of torching houses of civilians who were supporters of the rebel group in Shariff Aguak. Rebel forces have killed and wounded dozens of militias in the clashes since last week, Kabalu said, adding, eight MILF fighters were also killed.

More militias from other towns in Maguindanao have arrived in Shariff Aguak and were reportedly preparing to assault Camp Omar to flush out the two wanted rebel leaders.

The MILF, the country's largest Muslim rebel group, is currently negotiating peace with Manila and protected by a five-year old truce agreement, Kabalu said. "The continued fighting could have a serious implication in the peace talks and clashes must stop immediately," he said.

Philippine leader Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has ordered the military to coordinate with the Coordinating Committee for the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH) and the Malaysian-led International Monitoring Team (IMT) to maintain peace and order in Maguindanao.

Arroyo also instructed the military to work closely with government relief agencies and the local governments to address the plight of thousands of Muslim evacuees and ensure their safe return to their homes. Government spokespersons said the fighting between the rebels and militias was an isolated case and have not affected the current peace talks.

"The government is determined to pursue peace and development while taking all effective means to stop terrorism and bringing to justice those who have engaged in bombings and depredations," said Arroyo's spokesman Ignacio Bunye.

"We are resolved to forge peace, defeat terror and fight poverty through the full implementation of our development programs in the region with the active support and participation of all our strategic allies in the international community," he said.

Murad Ebharim, the secluded chieftain of the MILF, on Monday has ordered rebel forces in Maguindanao to remain inside their camps and defend only themselves from attacks. "The order of Brother Murad is for the rebels to stay put and defend their positions," Kabalu said.

Kabalu said Camp Omar, which straddles in the towns of Shariff Aguak, Datu Piang, Kabuntalan and Datu Saudi Ampatuan, all in Maguindanao and the towns of Midsayap and Aleosan in North Cotabato province, is home to tens of thousands of rebels and their supporters.

In February, security and rebel forces clashed for weeks in Shariff Aguak and left more than a dozen people dead from both sides. The fighting erupted after the MILF opposed a provincial government road construction that rebels claimed would encroach into their territories in the village of Datu Unsay.

President Arroyo opened peace talks in 2001 with the MILF in an effort to put an end to more than three decades of bloody fighting in the strife-torn, but mineral-rich Mindanao.