MILITARY SAYS PENTAGON, MILF KIDNAPPED PRIEST:
MARAWI CITY -- The military here believes both the
Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Pentagon gang
were responsible for the kidnapping of Italian priest
Fr. Giuseppe Pierantoni.
Brig. Gen. Angel Atutubo, the chief of Task Force Giuseppe,
said he did notbelieve the trading of accusations between
the Pentagon gang leader Faisal Marohombsar and MILF
spokesperson Eid Kabalu.
He said the MILF and the Pentagon,
which authorities have described as an MILF "lost command,
'' have continued to maintain ties.
Marohombsar, in a radio interview the other day,
denied having any hand in the kidnapping of Fr. Pierantoni
who was abducted from his parish in Dumataling, Zamboanga del Sur,
on Oct. 17. He claimed that an MILF special operations group w
as holding the Italian in Pualas town in Lanao del Sur.
Kabalu has denied this, saying the Pentagon was a military
creation meant to discredit the MILF.
Atutubo said the charges and counter-charges were intended
to confuse the government troops pursuing Fr. Pierantoni's abductors.
Citing investigations conducted by the military,
Atutubo said it had been ascertained that ``the MILF had
participation'' in the abduction.
Atutubo said the priest and his abductors had "briefly"
met with Ustadz Ali Acas, the alleged MILF operations
chief in Lanao del Sur. Kabalu has denied this,
claiming that Acas was based in Maguindanao. He added that Acas
was not an MILF field commander but a member of the group's
religious sector. But Atutubo said the areas where the priest
had been sighted with his captors were
"the areas controlled or influenced by the MILF."
Latest intelligence reports indicate that
Fr. Pierantoni had been turned over to a Commander Macaumbao,
an alleged sub-commander of the MILF's special operations group
headed by Tahir Alonto. Macaumbao is a former
barangay chair of Pualas, Lanao del Sur.
Marohombsar, in an interview by mobile phone,
threatened to rescue the Italian priest from his captors
``to prove that I have nothing to do with the abduction.''
Marohombsar said the MILF was making it appear that he was
behind the abduction by taking the priest to areas in Malabang,
Kapatagan and Paulas in Lanao del Sur and in Kidama,
Maguindanao where his first wife lives.
He said he was against the abduction of priests
because they do not have the money to pay ransom.
He said the MILF had kidnapped the priest
"so they (MILF) could use him (Pierantoni) in their
backdoor negotiations with the government.''
Inquirer, 10/31/2001
ITALIAN PRIEST NOW UNDER MILF CUSTODY:
MILITARY: Muslim bandits have turned over kidnapped
Italian missionary Giuseppe Pierantoni to the
Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF),
a Muslim separatist group currently holding peace talks
with the Philippine government, a military official said Monday.
Brigadier General Angel Atutubo,
head of the Armed Forces' Task Force Giuseppe,
said local officials had informed him that Pierantoni
was now in the hands of Ustadz Ali Acas,
whom he identified as commander of the
MILF's 303rd Brigade based in the town of Sultan Gumander
in Lanao del Sur province in the southern island of Mindanao.
However, MILF spokesperson Eid Kabalu dismissed Atutubo's report
that Acas was holding the 44-year-old priest from Bologna.
Bandits kidnapped Pierantoni on Oct. 19 after he celebrated mass
in Dimataling town in Mindanao's Zamboanga del Sur province.
A military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity,
said a special anti-terrorist team sent to reinforce
Atutubo's task force had encircled the area where
Pierantoni was being held.
The official said the anti-terrorist team was formed after
the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States.
He said the team had modern weapons, communications equipment,
vehicles, speedboats and aircraft provided by the US government.
Atutubo would neither confirm nor deny the report
but said his men were ready to move in if given the go-ahead
by higher authorities.
The MILF said the "Pentagon" gang,
composed mostly of rogue ex-MILF guerrillas,
should be treated as criminals.
The principal suspects in Pierantoni's kidnapping have been
identified as Faizal Marohombsar and Norham Amil alias Ramsey,
the alleged leaders of the gang.
MILF spokesperson Kabalu scoffed at the military report
that Acas was an MILF brigade commander and
that he was holding Pierantoni.
"He (Acas) is just a mere commander.
He belongs to the religious sector.
Acas is like a chaplain," he said.
Officials said negotiations for the release of
Pierantoni had begun, with the rebels asking an unspecified ransom.
But Lieutenant General Roy Cimatu,
head of the Armed Forces' Southern Command,
said the talks were only meant to persuade
the gunmen to free Pierantoni unconditionally
"for humanitarian reasons".
Inquirer, 10/23/2001
LAST CHINESE HOSTAGE FREED, THANKS TO 'ISLAMIC PERSUASION': COTABATO
CITY—-Moro bandits have freed their last remaining Chinese hostage after
the Moro Islamic Liberation Front applied "Islamic persuasion" on the
kidnap gang.
MILF spokesperson Eid Kabalu said on Saturday the Pentagon gang handed over
Chinese engineer Zhang Zhongyi to four MILF emissaries in Rajamuda, Pikit,
Cotabato, on Friday night.
Kabalu said the MILF emissaries then turned over Zhang to Libyan Ambassador
Salem Adem and Cotabato City Mayor Muslimin Sema.
President Macapagal-Arroyo, who is in Shanghai attending the Asia-Pacific
Economic Cooperation forum, thanked the MILF, Libyan ambassador and
government peace negotiators for securing Zhang's release.
Looking tired and haggard, Zhang was airlifted to Manila on Saturday
morning and was presented to the media in Malacanang later in the
afternoon. The once clean-shaven engineer had grown a beard during his
48-day captivity.
Speaking through an interpreter, Zhang said he was "very thankful for the
Philippine government and Chinese government for my safe return but I'm
also saddened by the loss of my elder brother."
The Pentagon gang seized Zhang, two Chinese co-workers and a Filipino guide
on Aug. 12 while they were delivering a 5 million-peso ransom to free his
kidnapped brother, Zhang Zhongqiang.
The gang was unheard of until the kidnapping of the Chinese engineers, all
employees of China Import-Export Power Technologies that was contracted to
build the Malitugog-Maridagao irrigation project in Carmen, Cotabato.
The military earlier said the members of the Pentagon gang were MILF
guerrillas.
Kabalu, however, said the MILF had nothing to do with the kidnappers.
Kabalu said Al-haj Murad, chief MILF negotiator in ongoing peace talks with
the government, "directed the MILF to facilitate the release immediately."
Murad, MILF vice chair for military affairs, issued the order on Thursday
after the signing in Kuala Lumpur of an accord to strengthen a ceasefire
with the government.
Kabalu said China sought the assistance of Malaysia and Libya in securing
the release the hostages. Malaysia and Libya then asked the MILF to contact
the Pentagon gang.
Both Malaysia and Libya are brokering peace talks between Manila and the
MILF. The Libyan government, and some Malaysians, have helped secure the
release of hostages held by Moro bandits in the past.
Inquirer, 10/21/2001
RP, MILF END PEACE TALKS BUT NO DEAL ON RECONSTRUCTION: KUALA
LUMPUR—Philippine government negotiators and Muslim separatist guerrillas
wrapped up fresh peace talks Saturday, but failed to reach an expected
agreement on developing war-ravaged regions and resolving Muslim claims to
ancestral lands.
Murad Ebrahim, chief of staff of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, said
there were key "differences" in opinion that could not be immediately
settled in the talks that began Thursday on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur.
Philippine officials were not immediately available for comment.
Murad said negotiations would resume at a date to be announced later, most
likely in Malaysia, which has twice hosted talks this year aimed at ending
three decades of bloodshed in the Philippines' restive south.
Clashes involving Muslim separatist rebels have killed more than 120,000
people and have impeded the development of Mindanao, homeland of the
Philippines' Muslim minority and one of its most resource-rich—albeit
economically poorest—regions.
President Arroyo's government and the MILF signed a ceasefire in Malaysia
two months ago in an effort to end the conflict. But the MILF claims the
Philippine military has violated the truce at least 12 times, resulting in
sporadic skirmishes. The Philippine government denies it, and has blamed
the rebels for sparking the battles.
At the start of the latest talks Thursday, both sides signed an agreement
to safeguard the ceasefire by setting up joint monitoring teams, which are
expected to start work before the end of this month.
Mla. Times, 10/21/2001
GOV'T, MUSLIM REBELS PREPARE FOR TALKS AFTER CLASHES:
The government and the Muslim separatist
Moro Islamic Liberation Front have set up monitoring teams to
enforce a ceasefire pact a week after clashes left 44 people dead,
officials said Tuesday.
Chief government negotiator Jesus Dureza said the
ceasefire monitoring process was crucial ahead of the
scheduled peace talks with the 12,500-strong MILF from
October 8 to 11 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The monitoring teams, composed of local government officials,
religious leaders and representatives from non-government organizations,
would cover rebel strongholds in the main southern island of Mindanao.
The government and the MILF agreed to a ceasefire during talks
in the Malaysian capital in August.
"We really have to work hard, we need these mechanisms for the ceasefire,"
Dureza said. "With the ceasefire agreement in place we can
move towards working together for (economic) development."
MILF military chief Mohammad Murad said that apart from the
immediate deployment of the joint ceasefire monitoring teams,
an independent observer group from the O
rganization of Islamic Conference (OIC) should also be invited to
ensure that guns are kept silent.
Army spokesman Lt. Col. Jose Mabanta on Monday said
36 MILF members and eight soldiers were killed in fighting in
Maguindanao province in the southern Philippines on September 27 and 28.
He said helicopter gunships and attack planes bombarded
MILF positions after the army discovered the rebels ambushed
government troops in the area.
"We are calling for the deployment of OIC monitoring teams also
to prevent violation of ceasefire," Murad said over local television.
"There should be a neutral group here.
What happens here is that one is blaming the other of violations," he said.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's adviser on the peace process,
retired general Eduardo Ermita, said he would instruct Dureza to talk
to MILF leaders and find out the cause of last week's fighting.
"Definitely, fightings with a big number of casualties could affect the
peace talks," he said.
The MILF is the country's main Muslim insurgent group pushing
for the establishment of an independent Islamic state in the south.
The MILF was left behind in a 1996 peace accord between Manila
and the larger Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF),
from which the MILF had split in 1978.
Mla Times 10/2/01
