2 killed in MILF ambush

ZAMBOANGA CITY — A soldier and a militiaman were killed while another was rescued in an ambush by Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) guerrillas in Buldon, Maguindanao, the military said yesterday.

The military said the three victims were on their way back to an Army detachment in Barangay Ampatuan Saturday when they were waylaid by some 20 heavily armed MILF rebels.

Armed Forces Southern Command (Southcom) chief Maj. Gen. Roy Kyamko said Pfc. Richie Dela Cruz and militiaman Ibrahim Manalao died instantaneously in the ambush.

Local officials also said five MILF rebels were killed while three others were wounded after trading shots with reinforcing government troops.

The military said reinforcements caught up with the attackers which triggered a 25-minute gunbattle until the rebels withdrew, dragging along the bodies of their slain comrades. "The reinforcing unit are currently pursuing the fleeing rebels," Kyamko said.

Maj. Gen. Generoso Senga, 6th Infantry Division chief, said troops, guided by rebel returnees, later encountered the attackers led by Commander Kagi Limbas in Barangay Kalbugan in Pikit, North Cotabato.

Senga said a 20-minute gunbattle erupted but the rebels managed to escape pursuing soldiers.

MILF guerrillas has been staging retaliatory attacks against government forces and civilian targets after their main stronghold in Pikit fell last February.

The rebels has been blamed for the spate of bombing attacks in Mindanao which left over 100 people dead since February prompting President Arroyo to call off the peace talks between the government and the rebel group.

Mrs. Arroyo gave the MILF until June 1 to renounce terrorism and surrender the rebels responsible for the attacks.

The government said they would bring up the issue before the 30th summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) in Tehran this week.

But sources said the Philippine government will only "internationalize" the supposed terrorist acts committed by the MILF in the coming OIC ministerial meeting in Tehran.

Diplomatic sources revealed some Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) officials have opposed the move of the Philippine delegation to report out the MILF terror activities before the OIC meeting.

Sources said the officials pointed out that the issue of MILF terrorism is not in the agenda of the OIC since the 56-member Muslim organization only recognized the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) as a representative of the Bangsamoro people in Mindanao.

"Concerns of the Philippine government on the MNLF may be articulated during the OIC meeting but not the MILF issue. The government should not internationalize the MILF, which is not in the agenda," a Philippine diplomat in Asia said.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas Ople accepted Thursday the official invitation of Iranian Foreign Minister Dr. Kamal Kharrazi to head the Philippine delegation to the OIC meeting.

Ople will be the first incumbent Philippine foreign minister to be invited to an OIC meeting.

The invitation is seen as an opportunity for Manila to push for its application for observer status in the OIC.

But sources said the "timing" of the application is not right. "The Islamic community believes that they are being besieged. We are courting enemies and alienating friends by supporting the US," the source said.

Beholden

On the other hand, a lawmaker has claimed the spate of attacks indicate the MILF is increasingly becoming beholden to its foreign benefactors.

Surigao del Sur Rep. Prospero Pichay claimed the MILF was able to carry out numerous bombing attacks and raids because of sustenance from international terror groups, including the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) which is linked to Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda network.

"The MILF now appears to be acting under the direction of their benefactors, including the JI, and maybe even some foreign power, that why the attacks in the past several months has been vicious and deadly," Pichay told The STAR.

"After all, these groups share the same objective, that is to establish a fundamentalist Islamic region in Southeast Asia," he said.

In exchange for the training and other forms of assistance, the MILF has to stage terrorist attacks, Pichay said, pointing out the method of the rebels in carrying out the bombing attacks.

He said the MILF does not appear to have any qualms in staging such attacks.

Pichay also urged Mrs. Arroyo to accept the offer of the US government to broker the peace talks between the government and the MILF.

He said the US can help ensure that whatever agreement that may be forged will be observed by both sides. – Roel Pareño, John Unson, Pia Lee-Brago, Paolo Romero