Sunday, September 24, 2006
Moro rebel group denies warning gov't of renewed war
By Ben O. Tesiorna
DAVAO CITY -- The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) said they never warned of a possible resurgence of armed conflict should peace negotiations collapsed.
In its website, www.luwaran.com, the MILF said they are "poor in making threats since it was organized in 1977."
"Records will show that MILF leaders are generally low profile, humble, but firm in decision-making. Threat is hardly a good tool in situation like we have in Mindanao and the MILF never or rarely makes threats. If it has to, it means business," said Khaled Musa, deputy chairman for the MILF Committee on Information.
Musa commented in reaction to the statement of Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita accusing the MILF of saber rattling in the midst of the impasse of the talks.
Musa clarified that they are merely stating facts that if the negotiation continues to stall either parties will build bridge to cross the dead-end, stay stalled indefinitely or one of the parties or return to war and attack the other.
Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, who is also Presidential Consultant on Peace and Order, said the threat of renewed war by the MILF is not going to do any good to anybody.
A disagreement over the size of an area where Filipino Muslims could exercise a measure of control over land, resources and governance stalled the talks between the government and the MILF this month.
MILF central committee chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim earlier hinted that they are ready for war against the government if it insists on dilly-dallying and treats the peace talks as a mere counter-insurgency tool.
The MILF, which estimated by the military to have 13,000 members with 10,000 firearms, is the largest of at least four Muslim groups that have been waging a bloody, decades-long battle for self-rule in southern Mindanao.(Sun.Star Davao/Sunnex)
(September 24, 2006 issue)
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