A young Moro Islamic Liberation Front mujahideen waves inside a rebel base in the southern Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner Photo / Mark Navales)MAGUINDANAO, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Sept. 1, 2008) – Philippine Muslim rebels are bracing for government attacks as hopes for reviving the stalled peace talks with Manila remain uncertain.
Thousands of government soldiers were pursuing two rogue commanders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front – Ameril Kato and Abdurahman Macapaar, who led a series of deadly attacks last month in the provinces in Mindanao.
The attacks were launched after the Supreme Court stopped the signing of a territorial deal government and rebel peace negotiators agreed.
Politicians opposed to the accord questioned the legality of the deal that would have granted Muslims a separate homeland in more than 700 mostly Christian villages across Mindanao.
“We are bracing for military attacks and we are warning the Philippine government not to launch attacks on the MILF,” Mohagher Iqbal, the MILF chief peace negotiator, told the Mindanao Examiner.
He said government soldiers on Monday have imposed a martial rule in the town of Munai in Lanao del Norte where civilians had been ordered to get out of the province. He said the military is preparing to launch a major attack on rebel forces.
“The military has imposed a martial rule in Munai (town) and ordered civilians to leave the province and those who refused will be tagged as MILF rebels and risk being arrested,” he said, adding, the province is a known lair of Macapaar.
“As revolutionaries, MILF fighters do not stay in one place and they are highly mobile and any attack on our forces could spark renewed hostilities,” Iqbal said.
Army Maj. Eugene Batara, spokesman for the Western Mindanao Command, denied Iqbal's allegations and said civilians were fleeing their homes because MILF forces were harassing them. "The rebels are in Munai and troops are pursuing them. The presence of rebels are threatening the safety of civilians in the town," he said.
Sporadic, but fierce fighting between military and rebel forces have killed dozens of people from both sides and forced more than 200,000 civilians to flee their homes in Mindanao.
Government spokesmen have issued conflicting statements and were quoted by the Philippine media as saying that the homeland deal was already scrapped and the peace talks suspended indefinitely.
Manila has repeatedly demanded the MILF to surrender the two rogue rebel leaders and offered ten million pesos bounties for the capture of Kato and Macapaar.
Iqbal said the MILF will not yield the two commanders, saying, the MILF has began an investigation into their involvements in the attacks.
He said the MILF will not resume peace talks unless Manila honor the ancestral domain agreement peace negotiators initially signed in July. “We are sincere with the peace talks, but the inability of the Arroyo government to comply and honor the peace agreements is threatening the entire peace process.”
“With all these government attacks and fighting in Mindanao, we are not even sure what is going to happen. There are clouds above our heads and where there is smoke, there is fire and right now there are many smoke in Mindanao,” Iqbal said.
The MILF held a caucus over the weekend about the stalled peace talks, but Iqbal said they have to receive formal statement from the Arroyo government about the scrapping of the homeland deal and whether to continue the peace process.
“We have not received anything from the Philippine government or from Malaysia, which is facilitating the peace talks. We ware waiting for the formal statement of the government about the fate of the ancestral domain and if it will still pursue the peace process or not,” Iqbal said.
Iqbal said the MILF cannot act on the statements issued by government spokesmen to the media. “We cannot act on those media statements. We need the official statement from the government so we know whether to continue the peace talks or not,” he said.
The MILF, now the largest Islamic rebel group in the country, is fighting for the establishment of a separate state in Mindanao, home to about four million Muslims and 21 million mostly Christians and 18 ethnic tribes and indigenous peoples. (Mindanao Examiner)
“We have not received anything from the Philippine government or from Malaysia, which is facilitating the peace talks. We ware waiting for the formal statement of the government about the fate of the ancestral domain and if it will still pursue the peace process or not,” Iqbal said.
Iqbal said the MILF cannot act on the statements issued by government spokesmen to the media. “We cannot act on those media statements. We need the official statement from the government so we know whether to continue the peace talks or not,” he said.
The MILF, now the largest Islamic rebel group in the country, is fighting for the establishment of a separate state in Mindanao, home to about four million Muslims and 21 million mostly Christians and 18 ethnic tribes and indigenous peoples. (Mindanao Examiner)
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