Friday, May 30, 2008

MILF Slams Terror Tag, Denies Role In Zamboanga bombing

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / May 30, 2008) – Philippine Muslim rebels negotiating peace with the government strongly denied Friday police allegations they were behind a deadly bomb attacking in Zamboanga City.

Three people were killed and more than a dozen others injured in Thursday blast just outside the Philippine Air Force base. Regional police chief Jaime Caringal blamed the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which is fighting for independence, as behind the attack, an accusation denied by the country’s largest Muslim rebel group.

“We have nothing to do with the attack. This could be the handiwork of anti-government groups or even people in the government to paint a scenario of chaos and terror and then put the blame on the MILF.”

“Our conscience is clean. We have condemned the attack in Zamboanga and we are asking for a thorough investigation of the bombing. There could be some groups out to derail the peace talks between the MILF and the Arroyo government,” Eid Kabalu, a rebel spokesman, told the Mindanao Examiner.

The local police are still investigating the attack, but radio reports had quoted unnamed officials as saying that the Abu Sayyaf could be involved in the bombing. Police said the bomb was left outside the building that houses a military mutual fund and an office of the US Agency for International Development.

Khaled Musa, a senior MILF leader, also criticized Caringal for linking the rebel group to the bombing. “This is a serious allegation against the MILF. This is an irresponsible statement. The MILF is a partner of the government in the search for genuine peace in Mindanao,” he said.

Caringal also blamed the MILF for two bombings last month in Zamboanga City.

Peace talks were stalled since last year after Manila rejected MILF demands for ancestral lands for more than four million Muslims in the southern Philippines. The MILF said government peace negotiators reneged on a previous deal that will grant Muslims their ancestral domain which would constitute a separate homeland. (Mindanao Examiner)

No comments: