July 18, 2000, The Philippine Star, MILF rebels massacre 21 Christians,

July 18, 2000, The Philippine Star, MILF rebels massacre 21 Christians,

Armed men believed to be Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels herded 21 Christians, including a pregnant woman and an off-duty militiaman, inside a mosque, tied their hands behind their backs, then shot them pointblank last Sunday in Lanao del Sur.

The killers then burned the victims' homes in a remote farming village and went on a shooting rampage, injuring 11 people, the military said. President Estrada condemned the massacre "in the strongest possible terms," Press Undersecretary Mike Toledo told reporters.

Toledo said Malacañang will hold MILF chieftain Hashim Salamat "responsible for any blood that will be spilled because of his call for jihad (holy war)." Salamat had exhorted Mindanao's Muslim minority to rise up in arms against the government after the MILF's headquarters, Camp Abubakar in Maguindanao, fell to the military last July 9, sending the rebels on the run. About a hundred men, led by a certain Hadji Malik, attacked the village of Somogot in Bumbaran town last Sunday and forced 21 Christian residents into the mosque, military reports said.

The victims pleaded for their lives but were shot dead, said Maj. Johnny Macañas, a military spokesman from the Army's 4th Infantry Division. Macañas said the motive of the killing was not known. The village is half Christian and half Muslim. "This is condemnable, deplorable and un-Islamic," Macañas said.

He said that after the killings, the armed men attacked a nearby militia outpost but were repulsed. The bandits fled to Lanao del Norte where Army troops are hunting them down. MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu claimed some of the victims were Muslims, a claim denied by the military. In another shooting rampage last Sunday, four people were injured when about a hundred guerrillas attacked the village of Natividad in Columbio town, Sultan Kudarat.

The rebels struck at dawn while the villagers were asleep, firing on houses. They torched 10 huts and fled, exchanging gunfire with pursuing army troops and policemen. In North Cotabato, a bomb planted by suspected MILF rebels exploded in a bus terminal in Matalam town yesterday but no one was hurt.

Police said the explosive was fashioned from an 81-mm. mortar shell rigged with a timing device. The blast hurled a second mortar shell about 10 meters away, but it did not explode. A third explosive was discovered in a market in nearby M'lang town and defused. "No other group has the stomach for this kind of attack except the MILF," North Cotabato Gov. Emmanuel Piñol said. The bomb was similar to the one that went off last Sunday in the nearby town of Kabacan, which killed three people, not four as earlier reported.

The explosion ripped through a crowded market and set off a stampede. Two more bombs were discovered nearby and defused by policemen. Officials blamed the MILF for the Kabacan blast. "The victims of their jihad (holy war) are their own people, innocent Muslims," Piñol said. Kabalu denied the accusation, claiming that they do not target civilians.

"The problem with these rebels is that they are too ferocious in harming innocent civilians. I have long been challenging them to a gunbattle anywhere they want but they don't want to fight me and my men. They want to harm only those who can't fight back," said an angry Kabacan Mayor Wilfredo Bataga, an opponent of the MILF.

No one claimed responsibility for the Matalam and Kabacan bombings. Kabalu could not be reached for comment on yesterday's explosion, the fifth in North Cotabato since April. Matalam Mayor Oscar Valdevieso said one of the two bombs was placed in a sack and left in the middle of the terminal, which was empty at the time. The explosion prompted store owners to close their shops.

Military and police officials believe the massacre in Lanao del Sur and the North Cotabato bombings were in response to Salamat's call for a jihad, which was largely ignored by the populace. Press Undersecretary Toledo said peace talks will still resume on July 29 despite the latest attacks.

Mr. Estrada ordered the offensive against Camp Abubakar after the rebels rejected a June 30 deadline for them to lay down their arms, drop their bid for an independent Islamic state and accept a peace deal that included limited autonomy. Most of the MILF's 50 camps have been captured by the military after a relentless campaign that began in April. The campaign drew criticism from Mr. Estrada's predecessor, Fidel Ramos.

A former Armed Forces chief, Ramos warned that the campaign might force the MILF to adopt guerrilla and terrorist tactics once their camps were captured. Two days ago, a suspected Iranian terrorist, identified as Behrouz Vafajoe, was arrested in Manila by military intelligence and immigration agents, who are now tracking down his confederates.

Armed Forces Vice Chief-of-Staff Lt. Gen. Jose Calimlim and Immigration Commissioner Rufus Rodriguez believed that Vafajoe is a member of Hizbollah (Party of God), an Iranian-backed group of Islamic fighters based in southern Lebanon.

Calimlim and Rodriguez suspected that Vafajoe is helping train MILF or communist New People's Army rebels. A pistol, several rounds of ammunition and a stolen car were seized from Vafajoe, who resisted arrest. Vafajoe, who is allegedly staying illegally in the country, will be deported after being interrogated.

The Ramos administration concluded a ceasefire agreement with the MILF in 1997 in an attempt to begin peace talks, which were put in limbo when Mr. Estrada took over. Last Saturday, the government issued "safe conduct passes" to 20 top MILF officials, allowing them to move freely, in an attempt to restart the stalled peace negotiations.

Unmoved, the MILF demanded that Mr. Estrada put in writing that he sincerely wants to make peace with them. "The President should make it clear in written form that the government still wants to talk peace with us," Kabalu said. "It has to be official. We cannot just work on anything that we do not have anything to hold on to."

As for the passes, Kabalu said it was part of a March 9 agreement between the two sides. The Estrada administration rejected calls for a ceasefire during the military campaign, claiming that the rebels would use the time to rearm. The fighting was the worst in recent years and forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes. Presidential Adviser for Children's Affairs Jamby Santos-Madrigal promised more aid to the refugees. -- By Lino De La Cruz, with Reports From John Unson, Paolo Romero, Rey Arquiza, Edith Regalado, Jaime Laude, Marichu Villanueva, Efren Danao, Ap, Afp,