Friday, October 12, 2012

"MILF Guerrillas Ghazali Jaafar MILF Commander?"

August 31, 1999, CNN.com, Asiaweek, The Government tolerated incursions by separatist rebels,

Rebels

Judging by its web address, this CNN / Asiaweek article from 1999 originally carried a title beyond the "AsiaWeek" it bares today, with the little "Rebels" tag as a lead-in: "MILF Guerrillas Ghazali Jaafar MILF Commander?"


FOR ALMOST A YEAR, THE PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT tolerated incursions by separatist rebels in Mindanao. Having signed a peace agreement with the largest rebel group, the Moro National Liberation Front, Manila hoped to win over the remaining threat, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. A more radical splinter group of the MNLF, the MILF aims to establish an Islamic state on the island. The rebel army had agreed to negotiations, but not to a ceasefire. Still, that whisper of hope led authorities to suffer some short term disorder in the hope of increasing chances for a lasting peace.

Last week, Manila's patience came to an end, and prospects for an accord in the near future may have receded along with it. In the biggest military escalation since last year's MNLF agreement, the armed forces overran Camp Rajamuda, the MILFs second largest camp, and pursued some 1,000 rebels, who had taken over 100 civilians hostage. The government claims the group has turned to kidnapping and extortion. On June 16, suspected MILF guerrillas seized 43 workers of the state owned Philippine National Oil Company and held them for 10 hours.

That abduction, says Gen. Arnulfo Acedera, the armed forces chief of staff, is the incident that triggered the offensive. Kidnapping has now become the main source of the MILFs funds, he says. Seventeen of the 28 kidnapping syndicates on the island, he says, have MILF ties. Businessmen, who have been the main targets of extortion, threatened to call a strike in Cotabato City, capital of the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao, if nothing was done against the kidnappings.

So the authorities acted. Over several weeks, the military moved troops, artillery and support vehicles into five provinces in central Mindanao. Two brigades, or about 3,000 soldiers, were ordered to pursue some 1,500 rebels. On June 26, the army captured Camp Rajamuda. Reports described it as the hideout of an MILF commander who was using it for kidnapping operations. The retreating guerrillas commandeered ten vehicles along a 300-km-long highway leading out of Cotabato. The rebels seized and robbed 104 people, killing three of them. The army suffered one killed and three wounded in a three-hour gunfight to rescue the hostages. After two weeks of offensives, the military estimates 47 people have died, though other reports cite figures up to three times higher. About 40,000 residents were affected by the crossfire.

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Peace is another casualty, though, surprisingly, it is not damaged seriously. The MILF has suspended peace negotiations with Manila, but has not broken them off completely. After the hostilities, we'll talk, says Executive Secretary Ruben Torres. He says his MILF counterpart, spokesman Ghazali Jaafar, told him that the talks cannot be productive while fighting is going on.

Jaafar accuses the government of using conflict in Mindanao to set the stage for martial law, which would allow President Fidel Ramos to extend his single six-year term beyond June 1998. The real intent is to provoke the MILF into war, he says. We are not kidnappers. The opposition in Manila has also weighed in. President Ramos wants a second term, says Rep. Ronaldo Zamora. He is looking for an excuse, and Mindanao could be that.

A palace plot is unthinkable, says Acedera. If you are the national leader, you don't play with people's lives. Defense Secretary Renato de Villa says that the government will continue with negotiations. The president has told the press not to worry. Says Ramos: Just relax. But that is one order Mindanao's MILF rebels surely will not follow.

Ceaseless Fire

Dec. 1976 The then first lady, Imelda Marcos, and Moro National Liberation Front MNLF leader Nur Misuari sign the Tripoli Agreement, which calls for autonomy in 13 provinces and nine cities in Mindanao.;

Nov. 1989 In a plebiscite, only four provinces opt to join the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao ARMM. Cotabato City becomes the seat of the ARMM government, which is formally inaugurated a year later.;

Oct. 1992 The government reestablishes contact with Misuari in Tripoli, Libya. Peace talks begin a year later. The two sides sign an interim ceasefire agreement.;

Sept. 1996 The government and the rebels reach a final accord. Misuari is elected third ARMM governor under the banner of President Fidel Ramos's ruling Lakas' NUCD party.;

Oct. 1996 to June 1997 A rash of kidnappings prompts the military to bring troops, artillery and vehicles into central Mindanao.;

June 1997 Rebels apparently belonging to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front MILF, an MNLF splinter group, detain workers of the state oil company. The military gives chase and launches an all-out war against the MILF. Misuari is unbothered; he is overseas seeking investment for Mindanao.;

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