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Monday, September 26, 2005
Gov't, Moro group agree to halt offensives v. Sayyaf
MANILA -- The government has agreed to halt offensives in two southern towns aimed at capturing Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khadaffy Janjalani to allow displaced villagers and guerrillas to return home, officials and the rebels said Sunday.
Hundreds of soldiers, including US-trained commandos, have scoured the mountainous hinterlands of Talayan and Guindolongan towns in southern Maguindanao province since July but have failed to capture Janjalani, who is wanted by both Manila and Washington for alleged involvement in deadly terror attacks.
Return home
Officials and Moro Islamic Liberation Front guerrillas, who are engaged in talks with the government and are helping search for Janjalani, said soldiers would stop fighting and withdraw by the end of the month to allow villagers to return home and MILF guerrillas to reoccupy their camps.
Hundreds of villagers abandoned their homes and MILF guerrillas withdrew from their camps to allow government troops to pursue Janjalani and his armed followers who were sighted in the area along with a number of suspected militants belonging to the al-Qaida-linked Jemaah Islamiyah. The MILF twice extended a deadline for the troops to end the assaults, according to both sides.
"It's important to put an end, a timeframe to these operations because many villagers have been suffering and wanted to go back to their homes and farms," MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu said.
Agreement in principle was forged by the government and the MILF during Malaysian-brokered peace talks in Kuala Lumpur two weeks ago. Both sides also agreed to provide relief and livelihood to displaced villagers.
Chief government peace negotiator Silvestre Afable said the troop withdrawal from the two towns would allow villagers and MILF rebels to observe the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
He added the military's "high-value targets are no longer there," suggesting Janjalani was no longer in the area.
Smaller groups
Both Afable and Kabalu said the military could continue offensives elsewhere in the province.
Kabalu said Janjalani, along with two other Abu Sayyaf leaders--Abu Sulaiman and Isnilon Hapilon--have reportedly split into small groups to avoid detection, never staying in the same spot longer than a week.
The three are wanted by Washington for the kidnapping of a number of Americans, one of whom was beheaded by the militants. The Abu Sayyaf has also been blamed for recent deadly bombings, including an explosion that set a ferry on fire last year, killing 116 people in the country's worst terrorist attack. (AP)
(September 26, 2005 issue)
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