MANILA, 19 August 2003 — The Moro Islamic Liberation Front has witnesses to confirm an alleged plan by the military to bomb mosques in Mindanao and will raise the matter when it resumes formal peace talks with the government, MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu said yesterday.

Kabalu said several civilians and MILF members saw a man lob a grenade into one of the mosques in the afternoon of April 3.

Kabalu said although the man was not in a military uniform, he said they were able to confirm that the suspect was from the Armed Forces of the Philippines after some soldiers, who had become friends of the Muslim separatists, told them of an order from their superiors to bomb the mosques and then put the blame on the MILF.

Military officials were not immediately available for comment.

Kabalu’s statement was corroborated last week by Army Captain Milo Mastrecampo during his testimony before the Feliciano commission and the Senate.

“It bothered us because the purpose of the so-called military-orchestrated bombings was to put the blame on the MILF,” Kabalu said.

Kabalu said the MILF would raise this issue before the government panel when formal negotiations resume. He added their witnesses were prepared to testify.

Maestrecampo, who is charged with coup d’etat along with five other mutiny leaders, told the Feliciano and Senate hearings that a superior officer ordered him to form a special operations team to carry out a mosque bombing in Davao City.

Maestrecampo was then the commander of the 16th Scout Ranger Company based in Mindanao in April.

But the young officer said he refused to carry out the order because he said Muslims were not enemies. He said that when he found out about the bombings, he thought another group of soldiers must have followed the commanding officer’s directive.

He did not name his commanding officer “out of respect.”

The bombs exploded outside three mosques in Davao city in Mindanao on April 3 just hours after a blast in a nearby wharf left 16 people dead. Both incidents were described as terrorist acts by the government.

Maestrecampo said the bombings were allegedly part of the military’s “Oplan Green Base” that sought to blame chaos on the MILF.

Maestrecampo claimed the discovery of the plan was what partly stirred them to launch their mutiny in July 27.

Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes said a document outlining the plan was fake.