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Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Muslim rebels, militia sign truce in Maguindanao
By Al Jacinto
ZAMBOANGA CITY -- Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels and government-backed militia agreed to a formal truce on Tuesday, ending more than a week of fierce clashes that sent more than 30,000 people fleeing in Maguindanao province in the southern Philippines.
"We have signed a formal truce agreement with the militia and both sides agreed to halt the fighting and draw a demilitarized zone in Shariff Aguak (town) in Maguindanao," Eid Kabalu, a spokesman for the MILF, said.
Kabalu said representatives from the military, Department of National Defense, Malaysian-led international truce observers, and Maguindanao Governor Andal Ampatuan signed the ceasefire accord.
"This is a good development and those who fled their homes can now return to their villages," he said.
The MILF blamed militias loyal to Ampatuan for the violence, which they claimed was in retaliation for a roadside bombing last month that killed five people. The target of the bombing was allegedly the governor, who escaped unhurt.
The police and military accused the MILF of masterminding the attack and ordered the arrest of senior rebel leaders Jamil Ombra, commander of the 105th Base Command in Camp Omar, and his deputy Sajid Pakiladato.
Both were tagged as behind the bombing in Shariff Aguak. The MILF denied the accusations and refused to surrender the duo.
In February, security and rebel forces clashed for weeks in Shariff Aguak, leaving more than a dozen people dead from both sides. The fighting erupted after the MILF opposed a provincial government road construction that rebels claimed would encroach into their territories in the village of Datu Unsay.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo opened peace talks in 2001 with the MILF in an effort to put an end to more than three decades of bloody fighting in the strife-torn, but mineral-rich Mindanao. (Sunnex)
(July 12, 2006 issue)
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