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Philippines: Ghaddafi Assails Sayyaf
by Kazi Mahmood
KUALA LUMPUR, March 15 (IslamOnline) - Libyan leader Muammar Ghaddafi has assailed the Abu Sayyaf group for its activities in the southern Philippines, the Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said recently.
The DFA cited a report by special envoy to the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) Raul Rabe, who met with Ghaddafi last week.
"What they have done has nothing to do with the cause of Islam," the Libyan leader told Rabe. The Abu Sayyaf held hostage Filipino and foreign nationals they seized from Sipadan island, the Malaysian side of the Borneo island last year.
Libyan officials helped in the release of the hostages by participating in negotiations with the Abu Sayyaf. Millions of dollars were paid by German, French, as well Malaysian, hostages who were all eventually released without being harmed.
Filipino dive master Roland Ullah and American Islam convert Jeffrey Craig Schilling remain in the hands of the Abu Sayyaf. However, Schilling is now suspected to be part of the Abu Sayyaf and is said to be leading one of the factions on Basilan Island.
For its part, the Philippines army is still carrying a cleansing operation on Jolo Island in a bid to terminate the group.
Critics state that the army operation has failed since the major leaders of the various factions of the Abu Sayyaf are still on the run and have regrouped themselves either on Basilan Island or in Mindanao.
Ghaddafi also described President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's peace initiatives in Mindanao with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) as a "wise move."
"The use of force and arms will not solve the problem as they will only be used by the rebels to rally people around them to fight the government," Rabe quoted Ghaddafi as saying.
Rabe handed to the Libyan leader a letter from Arroyo outlining her initiatives to bring the MILF back to the negotiating table and restore peace in Mindanao.
Arroyo said Thursday she had confirmation from the MILF that the movement has accepted the offer for peace negotiations from her government.
Visiting Camp Sultan Kudarat Pendatun in Parang, Maguindanao, the President welcomed to the fold of law 10 groups of MILF members in Tamparan, Lanao del Sur.
She also checked on the status of government relief and rehabilitation efforts for thousands of evacuees from Matanog, Barira, and Buldon, all in Maguindanao province, under the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
The MILF, for its part, has been insisting that peace talks be held in a neutral country.
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