MILF LEADER CODDLING JANJALANI, SAYS AFP
MANILA, September 14, 2005 (STAR) By Jaime Laude - A military intelligence report has tagged a commander of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) as the coddler and protector of Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khaddafy Janjalani and his followers now holed up in Central Mindanao.According to the report, MILF Commander Kagui Samir Salamat has been providing refuge to Janjalani’s group in Barangay Pawas in Datu Piang, Maguindanao.
Other Abu Sayyaf leaders who are believed to be with Janjalani include Jainal Sali, alias Abu Solaiman; Gumbahali Jumdail, alias Doctor Abu; Omar Ruayan, Sin Abdul Hir, Ustadz Hata Haipe, and a certain Usman, Tapay and Ismin, the intelligence report said.
Earlier, the Armed Forces said the movements of Janjalani’s group have been restricted within Talayan, Maguindanao and the bandits’ days were numbered.
The intelligence report came as the government and the MILF are preparing for the resumption of formal peace talks in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia this month.
MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu belied the report when sought for comment, saying that MILF guerrillas are even helping the military track down Janjalani and his followers.
"It’s a very exaggerated report. The MILF is not coddling the Abu Sayyaf," Kabalu told Camp Aguinaldo reporters in a phone interview.
Kabalu said there is no MILF commander by the name of Kagui Samir Salamat, but added that it sounds like Hajji Samir Hashim, the only living brother of the late MILF chairman Salamat Hashim.
He said MILF rebels have not returned to their camps in Talayan and Guindolongan towns, where the military has been hunting down Janjalani’s group since July.
"That’s the strategy of the Abu Sayyaf. They lurk near our lairs so the military cannot strike fast," Kabalu said, adding that the MILF continues to coordinate with the military.
He said the clash between military and MILF forces in Datu Saudi Ampatuan town, which left at least two soldiers wounded, was just a "misencounter."
Meanwhile, Marines raided a suspected smuggling base of the Abu Sayyaf in Sulu at dawn yesterday, seizing a modern speedboat, two light machineguns and 130 boxes of cigarettes.
Maj. Rommel Abrau, spokesman of the Marines, said the raiding team also confiscated an M-14 rifle and four boxes of ammunition for the seized M50 and M60 machineguns from the bandits’ lair in Barangay Pandanan, Kalingalang Kaluang town.
Communist rebs attack cellular site in Masbate The Philippine Star 09/14/2005
LEGAZPI CITY — Communist guerrillas have resumed attacks on economic targets after backing out of peace talks, blowing up a telecommunications tower in Masbate, police said yesterday.
At least 10 New People’s Army (NPA) guerrillas attacked the Globe Telecom mobile phone relay tower near the town of Palanas on Monday. They disarmed and tied up the lone guard and tossed an explosive into the compound, said Senior Superintendent Eugene Alcomendas, Masbate police director.
The raid was the sixth attack on a Globe Telecom tower since August, according to the Philippine National Police.
In a report, the police said the company had refused to pay "revolutionary taxes" that the NPA extorts on businesses to finance its armed operations.
The National Democratic Front, the umbrella group of the communists, held talks with the government in Norway late last month in a bid to restart negotiations for a political settlement to the 36-year rebellion.
However, the rebels rejected a demand by President Arroyo’s government for a nationwide ceasefire during the formal talks.
The rebels also said they would not resume talks until Manila took action to have them removed from the United States and European lists of "foreign terrorist organizations." — AFP, Cet Dematera
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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