A soldier looks at the body of an army man killed by Moro rebels in Mindanao island in southern Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner Photo/Mark Navales)ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 12 Feb) – Government soldiers clashed separately with suspected Moro National Liberation Front rebels and Abu Sayyaf Monday and killed at least four gunmen and captured two others in the southern Filipino island of Jolo, military reports said.
The fighting broke out in the towns of Indanan and Talipao on the island, about 950 km south of Manila, where thousands of troops are pursuing Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiya militants.
The soldiers were tracking down militants when they came under fire. There were no reports of military casualties.
Early this month, a faction of MNLF rebels under Habier Malik and Khaid Ajibun held for 3 days a peace mission headed by Maj. Gen. Mohamad Dolorfino, of the Philippine Marines and Defense Under Secretary Ramon Santos and 21 soldiers and staff of Presidential peace adviser, Jesus Dureza.
The rebels signed a peace agreement with Manila in September 1996, but the government allowed them to keep their huge inventory of high-power weapons, mostly automatic rifles, anti-tank rockets and machine guns.
They later accused the Arroyo government of failing to comply with the accord.Philippine military last week warned the rebels to stay inside their camps or risk being shot if caught carrying illegal weapons in public places. “The MNLF rebels should stay inside their camps. If we see armed men outside these camps, then we will engage them,” said Brig. Gen. Juancho Sabban, commander of the 3rd Marine Brigade on Jolo island.
Dolorfino’s group was seized after reports of a scheduled tripartite meeting between the MNLF, the Organization of Islamic Conference and the Philippines on Feb. 6-8 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia had been shelved off by the Arroyo government.
The hostages were freed after Manila agreed to proceed with the conference next month in Saudi Arabia. The OIC, which brokered the peace talks, organized the tripartite meeting to discuss the full implementation of the agreement.
Malik’s group had demanded the government to free detained MNLF chieftain Nur Misuari, who is facing rebellion charges in Manila, so he can attend the tripartite conference.
The OIC also wanted Misuari freed from jail so he can lead the MNLF delegation to Saudi Arabia for the meeting. He said the tripartite meeting is important to finally settle the problems.
After the peace agreement was signed, Misuari, became the governor of the Muslim autonomous region. But despite the agreement, there was a widespread disillusionment with the weak autonomy they were granted.
Under the peace agreement, Manila would provide a mini-Marshal Plan to spur economic development in Muslim areas in the south and livelihood and housing assistance to tens of thousands of former rebels to uplift their poor living standards.
Many former guerrillas were disgruntled with the peace deal, saying, the Arroyo government failed to comply with some of its provisions and uplift their standards of living. They accused Manila of failing to develop the war-torn areas in the south.
And in November 2001, on the eve of the elections in the Muslim autonomous region, Misuari accused the government of reneging on the peace agreement, and launched a new rebellion in Jolo island and Zamboanga City, where more than 100 people were killed.
Misuari then escaped by boat to Malaysia, but had been arrested and deported to the Philippines.
Dureza said the good relationship between the Philippine government and the MNLF was affected by the incident. He said the government would take precaution in dealing with the rebels in the future. (Mindanao Examiner)
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