MILF rebs teaming up with Nur’s renegades

An unholy alliance in the South?

Former members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) loyal to jailed Muslim leader Nur Misuari have linked up with rival Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) guerrillas for new attacks against government targets in Mindanao, STAR sources in the intelligence community revealed yesterday.

Police and military intelligence said an alliance was formed following a series of meetings between commanders of the two groups in MILF-controlled territories in Cotabato and Maguindanao.

"During the dialogues, they agreed to join forces," one of the sources said. "After that, we immediately monitored heavy movement of MILF forces and MNLF renegades."

The bulk of former MNLF fighters, who now call themselves the Misuari Renegade Group (MSG), are primarily based in Sulu. However, the former MNLF commander also has a considerable number of followers scattered in central Mindanao.

Misuari, a former governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), is currently detained at Fort Sto. Domingo, headquarters of the elite police Special Action Force, in Sta. Rosa, Laguna. He is awaiting trial for rebellion following an attack by his followers on a military detachment in Sulu last Nov. 19.

The MNLF and MILF are the country’s two largest Muslim separatist factions.

The MNLF spearheaded a Muslim separatist revolt in 1972 against then President Ferdinand Marcos. A power struggle among commanders led to a split and the formation in 1978 of the MILF faction.

Last week, military intelligence revealed a plot by the MILF to launch new attacks on government targets despite a ceasefire. The order was allegedly issued by MILF chairman Hashim Salamat.

The MILF is observing a September 2001 ceasefire signed with the national government amid peace talks, but President Arroyo suspended formal negotiations earlier this week after the military accused the MILF forces of mounting unprovoked attacks and harboring members of the Abu Sayyaf.

MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu denied yesterday that Salamat has ordered fighters to step up the offensive.

"The police and military are just creating a scenario of renewed attacks at the expense of the MILF," he said.

Malacañang reassured the MILF leadership that the military will continue to observe the ceasefire and not launch any offensive against the rebels.

"In recognition of the peace talks, we are not undertaking any offensive," Presidential Spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao said. "Our operations are intended to go after the Abu Sayyaf, not the MILF."

He said, however, that the government will not recognize so-called MILF areas.

"We respect the ceasefire, but the military will continue pursuit operations against the Abu Sayyaf wherever they may lead them. We just can’t stop these operations because of these so-called MILF areas," Tiglao said.

The other day, MILF vice chairman for military affairs Al-Haj Murad warned of possible clashes between guerrillas and government forces being accompanied by US troops in Basilan.

Murad said that as US and Filipino troops continue to fan out across Basilan to pursue the Abu Sayyaf, they could encroach on what the rebels consider their territory.

‘Crush them now’

However, a congressman from Surigao del Norte urged the government yesterday to conduct search-and-destroy military operations against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and other armed groups to prevent them from carrying out their terrorist activities in Mindanao.

Rep. Robert Ace Barbers (Lakas, Surigao del Norte) said an all-out offensive against the MILF, the Pentagon kidnap gang and renegade fighters of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) will serve as a pre-emptive measure for future attacks.

"Armed groups operating in Mindanao should be crushed by the military because their continued presence poses a threat not only to the region but the entire country," the congressman said in a statement.

Barbers said the rebels continue to engage in criminal activities despite government efforts to extend the hand of peace.

"It’s about time that this government flexes its muscle to once and for all prove to the people that there is only one Republic, only one government," he said.

Barbers said he supports the proposed widening of the area scope of the Balikatan war exercises in Zamboanga and Basilan.

"We have seen how the armed groups brought the economy down in the past with their terrorist activities and secessionist posturing," he said.

Salamat never left the country

Local officials of central Mindanao said Salamat neither went into exile nor been suffering from a debilitating illness as claimed by recent military intelligence reports.

The 57-year-old Salamat has been roaming Mindanao and holding meetings with sectoral leaders to discuss the plight of Muslims following the fall of Camp Abubakar.

The 20,000-hectare Camp Abubakar, the MILF’s former bastion, surrounded by Maguindanao’s Buldon, Matanog and Barira towns, is now guarded by Army soldiers and engineering units rehabilitating farm-to-market roads.

Abubakar’s takeover prompted Salamat to "tactically reposition" himself somewhere in Mindanao, within reach of key followers and members of the MILF peace panel holding talks with the national government.

Lawyer Michael Mastura, a member of the MILF negotiating team, said the reclusive chieftain has been laughing off claims that he had returned from exile and ordered his fighters to launch attacks despite a ceasefire.

"He never left for abroad. He was even seen by panel members

during briefings here," Mastura said.

MILF officials said it has never been the practice of Salamat to order attacks.

"We have different committees running the affairs of the MILF, Military affairs are handled by a specific branch of our central committee and the chairman does not decide on his own," said Muhaquer Icbal, vice chairman of the MILF’s information committee. He said Salamat even signed last Feb. 26 a central committee resolution condemning kidnapping activities.

MILF rebels kidnap 5 men

The Southern Command said yesterday five lumberjacks have been abducted by suspected MILF fighters in Sibuco, Zamboanga del Norte.

Southcom spokesman Lt. Col. Danilo Servando said a team of soldiers was dispatched to track down the group responsible for the abduction of five lumberjacks.

Seized by heavily-armed gunmen in a remote village in Subuco last Thursday were chainsaw operators Ruben Basilio, Manuel Lakastre, Manuel Medel, Melino de los Reyes and Regino Saavedra.

Servando said the five men were on their way to work when they were seized before noon by followers of MILF leader Said Aban, a.k.a "Commander Agila."

The incident was reported by residents of Sitio Upper Bakong, Barangay Lunday to a detachment of the Citizens Armed Forces Geographical Unit (CAFGU) under the 44th Infantry Battalion.

Armed Forces spokesman Brig. Gen. Edilberto Adan said the military is now conducting operations to rescue the five men and apprehend those responsible for their abduction, even if they are members of the MILF.

"The military will go after MILF fighters who violate the law even if there is a ceasefire," Adan said. "The ceasefire does not grant them immunity." – With Marichu Villanueva, Perseus Echeminada, Roel Pareño, John Unson