June 23, 2003, The Philippine Star, MILF chief renounces terror, by Bong Fabe and Mayen Jaymalin,

June 23, 2003, The Philippine Star, MILF chief renounces terror, by Bong Fabe and Mayen Jaymalin,

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY — The leader of the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) renounced terrorism for the first time yesterday and said he would "overcome all obstacles" and talk peace with the government. The MILF also denied any links with the Indonesia-based terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI). In a statement, MILF chairman Hashim Salamat publicly renounced terrorism a key government condition for resuming long-stalled peace talks and expressed confidence Malacañang would agree to a ceasefire this week.

Malacañang said Salamat’s statement is expected to bring the government and the MILF back to the negotiating table. "It’s not yet the start of the formal peace talks but it’s a big step toward final peace negotiations," said Presidential Adviser for Strategic Concerns Renato de Villa. "It’s a very important step that the chairman (Salamat) has taken and we personally believe it would advance the movement toward peace," he added. Salamat said President Arroyo’s call for the MILF to renounce terrorism as a condition for permanent ceasefire "is unnecessary," since "it is anathema to the teachings of Islam."

"To stress seriously this point, I hereby reiterate our condemnation and abhorrence of terrorist tendencies," Salamat said. "Consequently, we reject and deny any link with terrorist organizations or activities in this part of the Asian region, particularly in South Philippines, and elsewhere in the world." MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu said Salamat has been authorized by the rebel group’s central committee to issue the statement. "It is, therefore, the stand of the whole MILF organization," he said.

According to Kabalu, the MILF "policy statement rejecting terrorism" has been received and is being reviewed by Malacañang. De Villa confirmed Salamat sent the statement last Friday. "The copy was authentic and signed by Salamat," he said. For his part, chief government peace negotiator and Presidential Adviser on Peace Process Eduardo Ermita said the government is now taking essential steps to establish a permanent ceasefire and start formal negotiations to a final peace agreement. At the same time, Ermita urged Salamat to issue an unequivocal statement affirming his agreement to such a permanent ceasefire and immediate start of the peace talks. Ermita also urged the MILF chief to personally head the rebel negotiating panel in the peace negotiations.

Kabalu, on the other hand, disclosed informal talks were also ongoing in Malaysia and could result in a joint ceasefire agreement between both sides. "There has been some positive development," Kabalu said, but refused to elaborate. Mrs. Arroyo has accused the MILF of harboring terrorists responsible for a spate of bombings and attacks that have left about 100 dead in Mindanao since March. On Thursday, Mrs. Arroyo ruled out immediate peace talks with the MILF, saying they must first cut their ties to "terrorist" groups. While lower-ranking MILF rebels have already denied any terror links, Mrs. Arroyo had asked Salamat to categorically renounce terrorism and surrender those accused of bombings in the South for stalled peace talks to resume.

Intelligence agencies in the region have linked the MILF with the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), a terrorist organization blamed for the Bali bombing that killed over 200 people last October. A self-confessed JI member, Indonesian Fathur Rohman Al-Ghozi, also told prosecutors last week that top JI leaders Hambali, alias Riduan Isamuddin, and Faiz Abubakar Bafana, had financed the December 2000 bombings in Metro Manila that killed 22 people and wounded over a hundred others. Hambali, Asia's most wanted man, remains at large, while Bafana has been detained in Singapore. Al-Ghozi, who has already been convicted for illegal possession of explosives, said an alleged MILF bomb expert captured by police last month also helped plot the attack. Salamat said it was his "abiding duty in Islam to overcome all obstacles that pose as stumbling blocs to the peace process," aimed at ending the MILF's 17-year insurgency in the south.

Despite Salamat's statement renouncing terrorism, Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said the military and law enforcement agencies are still on alert for any possible MILF attack. "With or without the ceasefire our authorities are always ready to implement our laws," Bunye said.

The MILF earlier announced it would not extend its unilateral 20-day ceasefire and said its guerrillas are ready to hit back at government forces. The extended truce ended midnight Saturday.

Armed Forces chief Gen. Narciso Abaya downplayed the MILF threat and said this was nothing new to the military. "Even during the period of their (unilateral ceasefire), there have been violations committed. So there is really nothing new. Our forces are out there and we are ready. The ball is now in their (MILF’s) hands," Abaya said.

MILF explosives cache seized

Just hours before a self-imposed ceasefire by the rebels expired, the military reported clashes with the MILF in the town of Kabuntalan, Maguindanao. During the fierce clashes with MILF rebels, government troops stumbled on a rebel bomb-making facility in Barangay Tayan where they found a stockpile of C-4 and other types of high explosives, estimated to be worth P5 million. The military said some of the explosives were identical to those used in the recent bomb attacks blamed on the separatist guerrillas.

Maj. Gen. Generoso Senga, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said troops on security patrol ran into an MILF group allegedly planning an attack in the area, triggering the fighting. Senga said they are now documenting the explosives cache, which included blasting powders for rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), improvised time-delayed devices and other bomb-making tools.

He said the government troops were earlier tipped off by Muslim religious leaders of a supposed MILF bomb factory in their area. Local officials said the MILF guerrillas escaped after seeing the troops overrunning some of the guards in the facility. There were no immediate reports of casualties on both sides.

Southern Command chief Lt. Gen. Roy Kyamko said the explosives recovered from the shop were enough to kill a thousand people if set off separately in targeted public places. He said the recovered explosives, which included 450 kilos of C-4 and 80 kilos of black gunpowder, were capable of blowing up a 10-story building. Among the other items seized included two plastic containers with 50 kilos of gunpowder, 35 kilos of gunpowder in a sack, 17 boxes containing gunpowder, four rocket propelled grenade fuses, an impulse sealer, a bottle of contact cement, a weighing scale and various small tools supposedly used in bomb assembly.

Explosives experts said the seized C4 could be molded into at least 700 various improvised bomb devices while the cache of black powder could make at least 25 pipe bombs. Kyamko said the explosive materials recovered from the MILF facility were identical to the fragments found by investigators in the sites of recent bomb attacks blamed on the rebel group. Kyamko, however, could not confirm the sources of the explosives but expressed certainty that they would have been used by the rebels to carry out their bomb attacks.

"This confirmed their connection to the bombing incidents," Kyamko said. "What will they do with that (explosives)?" Kabalu, however, said the explosives cache "is fabricated and planted." "They just planted (the explosives) and there was no ground fighting in that marshy area. It’s pure fabrication and no truth to that," he said. – With Roel Pareño, Mike Frialde, John Unson, AFP