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Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Security Council meets on Sulu offensive
MANILA (Updated 3:22 p.m.) -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo opened today the National Security Council (NSC) meeting where leaders of Basilan and Sulu in Mindanao were briefed about military offensives against the Abu Sayyaf.
Philippine troops launched offensives Monday against Muslim insurgents who killed 27 soldiers last week on southern Jolo island, officials said.
Arroyo Watch: Sun.Star blog on President Arroyo
President Arroyo said the assaults were directed against terrorists on Jolo, in Sulu province, but that she ordered the military not to break a truce with two large Muslim rebel groups or inflict massive civilian casualties.
The NSC meeting presided over by the President and new secretary of National Defense, Gilbert Teodoro, was held at the Aguinaldo State Dining Room in Malacañang.
Arroyo said, “I’ve called for this meeting of the National Security Council to brief our leaders on Basilan and Sulu, and to consult them on our unrelenting efforts to forge lasting peace with justice, harmony and security for all Mindanaoans and the rest of the Filipino people.”
These efforts, she said, include the protection of civilians in battle zones, strict adherence to ceasefire parameters, harnessing of all sectors and international support for peace and development initiatives, and fast-tracking of projects and programs for infrastructure, health, housing, livelihood, farming and fisheries upgrading, and Muslim education and culture in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
”It’s imperative that we all work together without selfish politicking to preserve the peace we have achieved so far and to advance it toward a final agreement and the massive development that will follow,” she added.
Secretary Teodoro earlier said troops were targeting the al Qaeda-linked group Abu Sayyaf - notorious for deadly bombings, kidnappings and beheadings - and not the larger Moro National Liberation Front, which signed a 1996 peace accord with the government, or the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which is engaged in talks with Manila.
The assaults will continue unabated, Teodoro said.
Last Thursday's troop casualties on Jolo - 25 soldiers killed in a road ambush and ensuing clashes - have rattled the military. The incident was its largest single-day troop loss in recent years.
The deaths followed Muslim militants' beheading of 10 marines last month on nearby Basilan island, which enraged Arroyo and top generals. (Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Baguio.
(August 14, 2007 issue)
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