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June 4, 2000, The Philippine Star, Military won't touch Abubakar, for now,

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June 4, 2000, The Philippine Star, Military won't touch Abubakar, for now,

 

After capturing several bases of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Malacañang has decided to spare the MILF's biggest base -- for now. But unless peace talks between the government and the MILF produce positive results by June 30, President Estrada might unleash the military's full might on Camp Abubakar.

 

In the meantime, the military offensive against the MILF's other camps will continue, Defense Secretary Orlando Mercado said, to confine the rebels to Camp Abubakar and prevent them from carrying out attacks. "The military establishment has a clear view of its objectives and we feel that... we have to degrade the military capability of this group, meaning we have to focus in being able to prevent its resurgence because we have seen this problem come and go," Mercado said.

 

Armed Forces chief Gen. Angelo Reyes, however, indicated in a radio interview that Camp Abubakar - which is now practically surrounded by government troops - would not be spared.

 

"There's no self-respecting republic that will allow non-military camps or any other armed forces to stay or subsist. All camps must be abolished. There is no inch of territory in the Philippines that could rightfully be said that it is not part of the Republic," Reyes said in a television interview yesterday.

 

Reyes said they were forced to launch the offensive against the MILF's camps after the peace talks were delayed, charging that the rebels used the hiatus to rebuild their forces.

 

The rebel bases, he said, were being used as launch pads for kidnappings and bomb attacks on civilian targets -- allegations denied by the MILF. "The MILF has grown in size because we ignored their rebuilding in the past. If this continues, the problem will grow," he said.

 

In Zamboanga City, Armed Forces Southern Command chief Maj. Gen. Diomedio Villanueva said Camp Abubakar "is practically surrounded." Camp Sarmiento, the main perimeter defense of the MILF's main camp, was overrun by government troops Thursday. The camp, located in Matanog town in Maguindanao, was the fifth rebel base to be taken over by the military since fighting began a month ago.

 

The other camps were Bilal and John Mack in Lanao del Norte, Bushra in Lanao del Sur, and Omar also in Maguindanao. Meanwhile, MILF leader Hashim Salamat, his deputy Al-Haj Murad and 26 suspected MILF rebels have been charged with murder for the recent shopping mall bombings in Metro Manila.

 

Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, a former defense minister, said the two MILF leaders should be excluded from the charges because the suspects could simply argue that they committed the act in pursuit of their political beliefs. The 26 suspects should have been charged with murder and illegal possession of firearms without linking them with the MILF, he said, to prevent them from going back to Mindanao and "assist in the fight against the government."

 

Last Friday, 11 MILF rebels were killed as the military pressed on to capture another MILF base, Camp Usman in Maguindanao province, the military reported yesterday. The new fatalities raised the death toll in the campaign to capture Camp Usman near Cotabato City to 43 over the past three days.

 

Yesterday, the army shelled Camp Usman with 105 millimeter howitzers. The rebels fired back with mortars. About 1,000 troops arrived last Friday to reinforce the 2,500 soldiers already deployed to capture the rebel base, Esperon said. Their mission is to prevent rebels from nearby Camp Rajah Muda from sending reinforcement to Camp Usman.

 

The attack on Camp Usman followed last week's capture of Camp Bushra in Lanao del Sur, the MILF's second-largest base. Last Friday, the military took over the gateway to Camp Abubakar in Maguindanao, the MILF's biggest base.

 

The rebels countered by attacking an army base in Kauswagan, Lanao del Norte yesterday but were repulsed. Two rebels were killed. The battle for Camp Usman came as government and MILF negotiators ended three days of peace talks last Thursday in Cotabato City. President Estrada has given the MILF until June 30 to accept the government's offer of autonomy in place of independence or face intensified military onslaught.

 

Meanwhile, Malacañang expressed concern over the MILF's bid for recognition from the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), an influential Jeddah-based forum of Islamic states. "It's very clear that they are now watching the situation in Mindanao. In fact, the MILF representatives who were supposed to be in the peace negotiations were already there in the hallways where the OIC meetings are being held," Press Secretary Ricardo Puno said.

 

The OIC recognizes only the Moro National Liberation Front and gave it observer status while the MILF -- a breakaway faction of the MNLF -- has been waiting in the wings for recognition. The OIC helped broker the 1996 peace pact between the government and the MNLF, headed by Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Gov. Nur Misuari. Misuari reportedly tried to block a settlement between the MILF and the government by denouncing Manila's failure to comply with its peace commitments to the MNLF. -- Marichu Villanueva, Sandy Araneta, Lino De La Cruz, John Unson, Roel Pareño, AFP

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