Friday, August 22, 2008 Gov't launches offensive vs 2 MILF leaders By Froilan Gallardo
ILIGAN CITY -- The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rejected demands by the government Thursday for the surrender of two renegade commanders who were blamed for attacks that killed dozens of people.
Swarms of Army soldiers with orders to kill headed into the hinterlands of Lanao del Norte Thursday, seeking Abdullah Macapaar, also known as Bravo, whom the government had tagged as responsible for last Monday's raid on Kolambugan town and nearby villages that left 33 people dead.
Mohagher Iqbal, the rebels' chief peace negotiator, refused to hand over Macapaar and Ameril Umbra Kato, whom the government also blamed for the attack in North Cotabato last week.
"We are a revolutionary organization. We will never turn over our men to them. We have our own internal justice (system)," Iqbal said.
Press Secretary Jesus Dureza said the MILF should hand over Macapaar and Kato.
Army Lieutenant General Cardozo Luna, head of Task Force Mindanao assigned to hunt Macapaar and Kato, said up to 3,000 soldiers and elite police forces were involved in the offensive against Macapaar in Lanao del Norte.
Another 3,000 soldiers are also hunting Kato in Liguasan Marsh in Central Mindanao, he said.
Luna said he estimated they are facing 1,400 armed MILF rebels under Macapaar and another 700 armed fighters operating with Kato in Central Mindanao.
He said another MILF commander with 1,500 men operating in Lanao del Sur will come to help Macapaar once the fighting starts.
"We are moving to contact. Once contact is made, the hostilities will escalate," Luna told Sunstar Cagayan de Oro.
Brigadier General Jorge Segovia, the acting chief of the Armed Forces' Command Center, in a press briefing in Manila, warned MILF members who will aid and protect Macapaar and Kato.
"Anybody who will support these groups that we are pursuing, and will join them, sympathize with them becomes also a part of our operations. Even in simple terms, anybody who harbors the fugitive becomes liable, that's how simple it is," Brigadier General Jorge Segovia, the acting chief of the Armed Forces' Command Center, said in a press briefing.
He also said that MILF members who will harbor Kato and Macapaar, will be "hunted wherever they are."
"They have to suffer the consequences," Segovia said, adding that MILF members who were not involved in the atrocities should "get out of the way" to avoid being caught in the military operations.
"We are running against the members of these two base commands so we are asking the rest of the MILF to get out of the way," he said.
Bombs
Four Moro rebels were killed and eight others wounded when Philippine Air Force OV10 bombers pounded suspected positions of Kato in Maguindanao province.
In Midsayap, North Cotabato, five soldiers were wounded in an encounter with MILF fighters under Kato Thursday, the military said.
Asked if troops have the authority to attack rebel camps, Luna said the Armed Forces of the Philippines told commanders to consider that option as long as civilians won't get hurt.
"The problem is these are not ordinary camps. They are communities. Rebels stay with their families. If we are going to do action, we don't want any collateral damage to the civilians."
Luna said they will also hunt the men of Macapaar who participated in the raid in Kolambugan town to remove his "military capability."
"We will get as much men... We will remove his capability to sow terror," he said.
Luna said the armed Forces wanted to "solve the problem as soon as possible and ease the agony" of the thousands of residents displaced by last Monday's raid.
Earlier Thursday, military officials paraded 31 rebels allegedly belonging to Macapaar's unit who surrendered after refusing orders to kill civilians. Their leader, Alvin Cuntu, described Monday's attacks as a "brutal act against innocent civilians."
Lawrence Cruz, the mayor of Iligan, capital of Lanao del Norte, called their surrender a "very brave act."
MILF spokesperson Eid Kabalu said they were checking if those who surrendered were "authentic" guerrillas.
Calls for peace
Conveners of the Mindanao's Bishops-Ulama Conference (BUC) issued an "urgent appeal" to the government and MILF to "put an immediate stop to the fighting."
They were also asked to order the combatants back to their barracks and headquarters, to release captives and hostages, and to arrive at an immediate ceasefire agreement.
The bishops and Muslim leaders also offered itself "to be facilitators" in the intensive information campaign regarding the peace process especially the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD).
On August 14 also in Davao City, representatives of Mindanao's Catholic bishops met behind closed doors with the MILF leadership led by peace panel chair Mohagher Iqbal and issued a joint communiqué calling for "sobriety and calmness."
Charlito Manlupig of Balay Mindanaw said the recent fighting in North Cotabato and Lanao del Norte indicated that the "hawks" within the Philippine government and the MILF have gained considerable influence in their organizations.
"We ask them to remain on the peaceful road to peace as the cruelty and ruthlessness of violence may have the danger of spreading to other places in Mindanao, Manlupig said.
"As we issue this call for peace, we also remind ourselves that the quest for just and lasting peace is better achieved through the collective action of all the stakeholders especially in addressing the roots of this conflict," he said. (With AP)
