MILF: Peace agreement can help stop entry of terrorists


COTABATO - A Muslim separatist chief said Saturday that a peace agreement with the government could help stop foreign terrorists from getting into Mindanao.

A "war situation" hinders effective governance in the region and makes it difficult for both the government and the main rebel group, Moro Islamic Liberation Front, to control the entry of al-Qaeda-linked terrorists who pass through the country’s porous maritime borders with Indonesia and Malaysia, said Moro Islamic Liberation Front chairman Al Haj Murad.

"If there is a peace agreement, there is an effective governance in the area, there is an authority, then it will be very difficult for the terrorists," Murad told reporters. "Now it’s not difficult for them, they can come in anytime they want because the sea borders are very wide."

Murad denied government allegations that operatives of the Southeast Asian terror group Jemaah Islamiyah, which originated from Indonesia, have training camps in rebel-controlled areas.

"Indonesia has very wide jungles. We don’t know why the authorities focus on tracking down Indonesians in Mindanao rather than in Indonesia," he said.

"As far as we know, the only time foreigners visited our camps was before the Sept. 11 attacks in the US," he said.

He said foreigners used to visit MILF stronghold Camp Abubakar, which has since been seized by the military, to "at least be taught on how to handle firearms, but it was unclear whether they were members of al-Qaeda or Jemaah Islamiyah.

He said the rebels have a "very strict" policy rejecting terrorism.

"If there are individuals who resort to terrorism, they are not MILF. Once they resort to terrorism, they are no longer MILF," he said. "We don’t feel that terrorism can be a weapon in order to achieve our objective. It’s against Islam."

Murad’s group held a consultative assembly on May 30-31 that drew about 100,000 people to Camp Darapanan in southern Sultan Kudarat town as peace talks to resolve the decades-old Muslim separatist conflict enter what may be the final stretch.

Muslim guerrillas said Wednesday that their followers want them to negotiate for self-rule in Mindanao under a number of proposals, including full independence, to end the separatist rebellion.

Murad said the next round of Malaysian-brokered talks will be later this month in Kuala Lumpur. He did not give a date.

He said a 2-year-old cease-fire agreement has largely prevented skirmishes between guerrillas and government troops. AP