COTABATO CITY, 23 December 2004 — The corpse that was buried on the evening of Nov. 19 at a village in the southern Philippine province of Maguindanao was not of Abu Sayyaf leader Khadaffy Janjalani but of a local resident.

And the man died of old age, not of injuries during an airstrike.

This statement was made yesterday by the spokesman of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the Philippines’ biggest Muslim separatist group, to dispute claims by the military that the elusive extremist leader was killed while hiding inside MILF territory.

“The dead man who died of an old age had been identified by the name of Sulaiman, but he is popularly known in the community as “Bapa Gadung” or “Uncle Green,” MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu said.

Kabalu said Sulaiman was from barangay Dapiawan in Datu Saudi town but his relatives brought the cadaver to barangay Pamalian in Mamasapano town, his birth place, for fear that clashes between rebels and the military would disrupt the burial, said a grandson who asked not to be named said.

Government forces had said Janjalani may have been one of the 10 people killed during the air strike at Panan village in barangay Nimao of Datu Piang on the afternoon of Nov. 19. The military alleged that MILF fighters spirited the body away to Pamalian to cover their suspected collusion with the extremists.

Kabalu said representatives of both government and MILF cease-fire coordinating committee, along with the International Monitoring Team led by Maj. Gen. Zulkifli of Malaysia visited the supposed place of violence and reportedly found no trace of killings, except one MILF member who was injured.

Kabalu said it was impossible for Janjalani to get killed in the airstrike in Datu Piang since he was not in the area at the time of the attack.

And assuming it was true that Janjalani had visited the area, it does not mean he was being protected by the MILF, he said.

“After all, the MILF and Abu Sayyaf have no relationship whatsoever, the latter having been engaged in plain criminal activities,” Kabalu told Arab News.

Joint Effort

Government concerns that the MILF may be harboring members of the extremist Abu Sayyaf group and Jemaah Islamiyah have been a thorny issue in talks to end more than three decades of fighting for Muslim self-rule.

But the government and MILF peace negotiators yesterday signed an agreement setting up a joint team to flush out criminals and terrorists from MILF-controlled areas, officials announced.

The agreement, signed in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday, sets up a joint action group of representatives of both groups, and comes more than two years after the two sides agreed to create the body.

Military and police operations against kidnap gangs that operate or hide in rebel areas also are a cause of friction with the MILF.

The MILF has condemned terrorism, denied any links to Jemaah Islamiyah, offered its camps for inspection by the military, and vowed to help the government run after terrorists and criminals.

Under the agreement, the MILF agrees to block the entry and apprehend suspected criminals within areas and communities it controls and turn them over to the action group.

The military and the police shall provide the MILF an “order of battle” containing the names of wanted criminals while the rebels will provide information on suspects in their areas or communities.

The joint team — composed of rebel representatives and security forces — will coordinate with the military, police and the MILF to arrest suspects.

While the guidelines referred only to the interdiction of “criminal elements,” government chief negotiator Silvestre Afable Jr. and MILF’s Kabalu said it was understood that Jemaah Islamiyah and Abu Sayyaf members also were targets.

Afable said the Malaysia-brokered exploratory talks with the MILF were expected to resume in the first week of February in Kuala Lumpur.