COTABATO CITY, 24 November 2002 — The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) yesterday said there have been no violation of its cease-fire agreement with the government so far since the Ramadan season began.
MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu went on radio to deny television and radio reports of a clash between the Front’s fighters and army soldiers in Lanao del Norte province on Wednesday.
Reports have said that two MILF fighters were killed and another was captured after a gunbattle in Poona Piyagapo town.
But Kabalu said no MILF unit had been involved in any clashes with government troops since the onset of Ramadan early this month.
He also cited government troops for sticking to the cease-fire agreement, saying the last time they conducted offensive action was on Oct. 12. “In truth, not a single case of cease-fire violation committed by either party was recorded by the Local Monitoring Teams (LMTs) in the provinces of Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur...,” he said.
The focus of that military offensive were the towns of Sultan Gumander and Pualas in Lanao del Sur and Nonongan town of Lanao del Norte. Unknown to many, Kabalu said, there was “silent covenant” between the military commanders and civilian leaders in the areas to respect the sanctity of the fasting month of Ramadan by “avoiding unwarranted clashes.”
Kabalu expressed suspicion that the reported clash is meant to undermine if not to sabotage” the scheduled resumption of peace talks between the government and the MILF.
He did not elaborate.
