The secretary-general for internal affairs of the Central Committee, Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) has categorically stated that government forces provoked the present fighting in Sulu. This, said Ustadz Moshir Ibrahim, is to get the support of other countries involved in the U.S.-led “war on terror.”
BY ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO
Bulatlat.com
The secretary-general for internal affairs of the Central Committee, Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) has categorically stated that government forces provoked the present fighting in Sulu. This, said Ustadz Moshir Ibrahim, is to get the support of other countries involved in the U.S.-led “war on terror.”
Fighting between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the MNLF broke out on Nov. 12 at around 5 a.m. in Indanan, Sulu. The military has reported more than 20 casualties from its ranks, while the MNLF states one of its members has been killed and two have been wounded.
AFP chief of staff Generoso Senga has said in several press interviews and briefings that the fighting stemmed from military operations against elements of the bandit Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) in Sulu.
Implicating the MNLF
“The government implicates the MNLF in terrorism in order to get the support of some countries belonging to the ‘Free World,’” Ibrahim told Bulatlat in a phone interview over the weekend. “But I can say here, the MNLF has nothing to do with terrorism, we look at it as a stigma on the face of humanity – it is anti-freedom, anti-democracy and anti-justice.”
Ibrahim also denied the military’s claim that they are pursuing ASG elements in Sulu.
“That is not true, because that area is controlled by the MNLF and that is where the headquarters or main camp of MNLF state chairman Khaib Ajibon stands,” he said. He added that the fighting started some 500 meters away from Ajibon’s official residence.
“This camp is recognized by the government of the Philippines,” Ibrahim said. “No military men, no member of the AFP or even the PNP (Philippine National Police) can go to the area without prior understanding and arrangement with the MNLF official therein.”
Also, in a press briefing Nov. 17, Philippine Marines spokesperson Maj. Melquiades Ordiales said Jatib Usman, also known as Commander Millikan, whom the military identified as an Abu Sayyaf leader in Tawi-tawi, was killed along with two of his followers in an encounter with government troops the day before. “Milikan’s killing is a big blow to the Abu Sayyaf in Tawi-Tawi,” Ordiales said.
Asked for verification on the identity of Usman, Ibrahim said: “I think they were wrongly informed by their men in the field. This war is not between the Abu Sayyaf and the AFP, this is a pure battle between the MNLF forces and the AFP because if the main target is the Abu Sayyaf, then we can say there is no single element of Abu Sayyaf residing in the MNLF-controlled area, especially in the camp of Khaib Ajibon because we will never allow any member of any terrorist group to stay in our area.”
The ASG is included in the U.S. Department of State’s list of “foreign terrorist organizations.
The Macapagal-Arroyo government is under increasing pressure from the U.S. and the United Kingdom to pass anti-“terror” legislation. An anti-terrorism bill has been approved at the committee level at the House of Representatives, while five bills are presently under deliberation in the Senate.
Sulu is one of the provinces included in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao. The others are Tawi-tawi, Basilan, and Maguindanao. The ARMM is a product of the 1996 peace agreement between the MNLF and the GRP, which sought to end the MNLF’s 27-year armed struggle for a separate state.
During the presidency of Diosdado Macapagal (1961-1965), Sabah, which is only some 200 kms from Mindanao and to which the Philippines has a historic claim, ended up in the hands of the Malaysian government.
During his first presidential term, Ferdinand Marcos conceived a scheme which involved the recruitment of between 28 and 64 Moro fighters to occupy Sabah. The recruits were summarily executed by their military superiors in 1968, in what is now known as the infamous Jabidah Massacre. According to Moro historian Salah Jubair, this was because they had refused to follow orders.
The Jabidah Massacre triggered widespread outrage among the Moros and led to the formation of the MNLF that same year.
The MNLF entered into a series of negotiations with the GRP, beginning in the 1970s under the Marcos government. In 1996, it signed a “Final Peace Agreement” with the GRP which created the ARMM as a concession to the group.
