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Wednesday, January 12, 2005
Tension in Maguindanao over
By Ben O. Tesiorna
THE Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) assured tension in Maguindanao brought about by the attack on an Army detachment by a group of Moro separatists in Mamasapano town is contained and over.
This was the assurance made by MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu in a telephone interview Tuesday.
Kabalu said investigators from the coordinating committee on the cessation of hostilities (CCCH) and the international peace monitoring team are already in the area to conduct an investigation.
Kabalu said whatever the outcome of the investigation would be their basis on what disciplinary actions they would impose on the group of Abdulwahid Tundok.
The MILF spokesman earlier admitted that Tundok's group was responsible for the attack on an Army detachment in Mamasapano on Sunday, resulting to a gun battle between the government troops and the attackers that lasted from Sunday until Monday morning.
About 13 MILF rebels and eight government soldiers were reportedly killed in the said incident.
Kabalu said they had already ordered Tundok's group to stand down and retreat.
Presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye called the attack by the MILF rebels "an isolated case" and said the government expected the rebels "to impose sanctions on those who instigated it."
"Nevertheless, we assure that the skirmishes will not in any way affect the ongoing peace negotiations," Bunye said in a statement.
The MILF has been fighting for a separate Muslim homeland in the overwhelmingly Roman Catholic Philippines for decades, but signed a ceasefire in July 2003 ahead of Malaysian-brokered peace talks to end the conflict. (BOT/With AP)
(January 12, 2005 issue)
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