Thursday, August 21, 2008 Laviña: US silence over MILF attacks intriguing
WHY the United States is not condemning Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) abuses and terrorist action just when it condemned similar types of abuses elsewhere is truly intriguing, Councilor Peter Laviña asked.
"(US Ambassador Kristie) Kenney is one of the most active envoys in the Philippines and a favorite of the media. In the ongoing strife in Mindanao, she has a mouthful of things to say. Almost all Manila papers carried her statements made Wednesday,” he said.
“Curiously, none of it condemns the recent armed attacks of the MILF rebels in several provinces in Mindanao including killing of hapless civilians, burning houses and vehicles, toppling power lines, and taking hostages among them six Catholic priests," the councilor said.
He said these atrocities are no different from those committed by Russia in Georgia. Yet in the case of the conflict in the Caucasus, the US has a barrage of condemnation.
On Wednesday, Laviña said the US State Department also "strongly condemned" terror attacks in Algeria.
He said what makes the situation doubly suspicious is that the MILF is not in the US' list of "terrorist organizations" unlike some regular folk who are on terror watch list. (GLP)
