ZAMBOANGA CITY, 11 December 2005 — The Philippine military yesterday strongly denied claims by the former rebel group Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) that it violated a nine-year old peace agreement it signed with Manila.
The MNLF accused the military before the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) in Saudi Arabia of attacking positions held by former rebels in Jolo island, abouth 950 km south of Manila.
Brig. Gen. Alexander Aleo, commander of military forces in Jolo island, said the fighting was triggered by an Abu Sayyaf attack on an army post in Indanan town on Nov. 11.
It quickly spread to other parts in Jolo after MNLF forces aided the militants in many attacks against troops pursuing the Abu Sayyaf group.
“Everybody in Jolo island knows the real story about how the fighting started and how some MNLF leaders and their followers aided the Abu Sayyaf in attacking our soldiers,” Aleo told Arab News.
A delegation of senior MNLF leaders were in Saudi Arabia told the influential OIC last week that Philippine government troops assaulted MNLF forces in Jolo in the guise of pursuing members of the Al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group.
The MNLF is a permanent observer to the OIC.
The MNLF has said the military assault was to impress leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, where the Philippines currently chairs the APEC Counter-Terrorism Task Force (CTTF), after it was unanimously elected during the forum leaders’ summit in Santiago, Chile last year.
“The offensives were conducted by the Government of the Republic of the Philippines in the pretext of pursuing the terrorist group that they identified as the Abu Sayyaf to impress the leaders of the APEC that met in Busan in South Korea a few weeks ago.”
“For these oppressive attacks, the Government of the Repupblic of the Philippines has received accolades from the APEC leaders," it said.
The MNLF delegation led by Dr. Parouk Hussin, the MNLF’s chairman on foreign affairs, also expressed concern over the continued detention of their founding chairman, Nur Misuari, in a police camp south of Manila. Misuari, who signed a peace deal with Manila in 1996, is on trial for allegedly leading a rebellion in 2001 when his term as governor of the Muslim autonomous region in Mindanao ended.
