ZAMBOANGA CITY, 16 March 2007 — The Philippine military pulled out its army commander in central Mindanao in an apparent bid to appease the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which has blamed the general for the upsurge in fighting in the region.

Maj. Gen. Nehemias Pajarito, chief of the 6th Infantry Division, has been ordered to swap places with Maj. Gen. Raymundo Ferrer, commander of the First Infantry Division based in Pulacan town in Zamboanga del Sur province, division spokesman Lt. Col. Julieto Ando said.

Pajarito’s new command covers the Zamboanga Peninsula on the western part of Mindanao Island.

“The change in command is a normal routine in the Armed Forces of the Philippines,” he told Arab News by phone from the army headquarters in Awang town in Maguindanao province.

Earlier this week, the MILF, which is currently negotiating peace with Manila, accused Pajarito of ordering attacks on rebel forces despite a six-year old cease-fire agreement.

Pajarito’s pullout confirmed the information released on Monday by Mohagher Iqbal, the MILF chief peace negotiator, quoting the government peace panel members.

“Pajarito is the cause of all these troubles and fighting in Mindanao the past months,” Iqbal had said.

Pajarito could not be reached for comment, while Ferrer confirmed the report and said he would assume as new commander of the 6th Infantry Division today. “We swapped positions and I am the new 6th Division commander,” he said in a separate interview.

Pajarito is one of the most decorated commanders in the southern Philippines and has been largely credited by civilians for keeping the peace in the troubled region.

But the MILF warned that the increasing incidence of fighting in Maguindanao and North Cotabato provinces were threatening the peace talks.

Iqbal accused government soldiers of attacking rebel forces the past months, breaking a 2001 truce agreement. The attacks killed and wounded scores of rebels and drove thousands of Muslim villagers fleeing their homes, he said. “Troops are encroaching into our areas and government planes are bombing our positions and we cannot do anything, but defend ourselves and our people.”

He said clashes were also reported in the provinces of Maguindanao and Shariff Kabunsuan. Government troops, backed by helicopters and war planes, were attacking MILF forces, in the guise of pursuing militants.

Iqbal said soldiers also killed two Muslim civilians — a grandmother Taute Taha and teenager Rasul Balat — in Maguindanao’s Datu Saudi Ampatuan town. Last week, MILF forces seized more than two dozens soldiers in Lumba Bayabao town in Lanao del Sur province after the military arrested seven MILF fighters who were bringing a bandit they captured to a police station.

All the hostages were freed three hours later after a tense negotiation between senior rebel and military commanders.

But Ando blamed the rebels, saying, they were attacking government troops and detachments without provocation.

“We are not the problem. The rebels are attacking us and the MILF violated the cease-fire agreement many times in the past,” he said.

MILF Chairman Murad Ebrahim chided “hawkish” government officials of trying to sabotage the peace talks and welcomed President Gloria Mapacagal Arroyo’s move this week to rein in military units operating in rebel-held areas of Mindanao Island.

Arroyo had reminded military field commanders to be “constantly aware of the strategic implications of tactical actions in the proximity of MILF areas.”

She ordered the Defense Department to devise a plan that ensured all levels of the military understood the peace negotiations.

“The MILF remains optimistic on the peace negotiations,” Murad said and pledged to reciprocate the government’s peace gesture.

The MILF Central Committee is “to keep combatants in place” in conflict zones because there are “spoilers of the peace process” among the government ranks, Murad said in a statement.

“On the part of MILF, war is not being stepped up. But the MILF will keep a short list of those intent at breaking the peace, including hawkish military officers and policymakers,” Murad said.

He did not name those in the list or say what the MILF intended to do about them. He said that a “prolonged cessation of hostilities” could only be achieved when troops are stripped of their powers to patrol civilian Muslim communities.

Troops often “disregard the preventive measures” to avoid violence, leading to fighting, Murad said. “I have no doubt about keeping up the struggle to mobilize the population through a principled level of negotiation,” he said. “Peace will reign when the military solution is contained and...violations are not repeated.”