Report
By IOL South Asia correspondent, Kazi Mahmood
JAKARTA,
March 9 (IslamOnline) - Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)
and Abu Sayyaf kidnappers on Saturday said they were ready to
confront U.S. troops in Mindanao, news reports said.
The
MILF said it was prepared, had enough men and arms to fight the
world’s most powerful military in the Mindanao mainland.
The
Abu Sayyaf teased the U.S. troops with slogans “come and get us in
Jolo (Sulu Island)” adding that they were ready to defend
themselves fiercely.
Al
Haj Murad, military chief of the MILF. added that even though the
U.S. was not the enemy, the movement as a guerilla force had always
prepared itself for the worst case scenario.
Murad
said the group’s weapons inventory includes surface-to-air
missiles, from 1970’s vintage donated by Libya to newer models
procured from “other allies” and those bought from weapons
dealers.
The
MILF and the Abu Sayyaf both said their source of weapons is not
solely traditional patrons or dealers, but also it
is well known that the Philippine military has been selling
equipment to the Abu Sayyaf gang.
Murad
said guerillas trained abroad have also returned to Mindanao to
develop new weapons or modify and improve the existing systems.
Murad
rejected the idea that the MILF is a terrorist group. He insist that
the fight of the MILF was a domestic one, not an international
conflict involving terrorism.
He
accused the army of taking advantage of the prevailing hawkish
American policy in the war against terror.
Other
MILF members told IslamOnline that they feared some pro-war elements
in Manila would take advantage of the U.S. aids to the Philippines
and the presence of U.S. troops to attempt an all out war against
the Bangsamoro people.
Murad
said the MILF army represented around 30,000 men. The military
claims the MILF has from 10,000 to 15,000 men.
The
military launched an all-out war against the MILF during the term of
deposed president Joseph Estrada, leading to the capture of Camp
Abubakar, the main rebel base that sprawled across two provinces.
Meanwhile,
Abu Sayyaf rebels, holding an American missionary couple and a
Filipino nurse, have slipped out of Basilan.
The
group led by brothers Bakkal and Idris Hapilon managed to skirt U.S.
night surveillance flights and a military cordon last March 6,
taking off with Martin and Gracia Burnham on a fast boat sent by
Jolo comrades.
“The
Americans want them? They want us? They can come to Jolo,” an Abu
Sayyaf spokesman said in an interview to a local radio station.
The
spokesman said the Hapilon brothers island-hopped along the rugged
Basilan and Sulu coastline, before landing on the Jolo mainland on
Friday, with the Burnham’s in tow.
The
Abu Sayyaf source said the military offensive started March 6, with
troops scouring the towns of Maluso and Lantawan.
By
then, he noted, the group holding the Burnham’s was in Lantawan.
Military
sources in Basilan confirmed there have been operations against the
Abu Sayyaf group in Isabela-Lantawan area since March 6. They
refused to comment on the reported escape of the Hapilon group.
U.S.
troops are in southern Philippines mainly to rescue the Burnham’s,
an American evangelist couple from Texas. The Abu Sayyaf has been
tagged as an al-Qaeda spin off organization in Mindanao and is on
the list of terror organizations issued by the U.S.
The
rag tag group claim it is fighting for an Islamic state in Southern
Mindanao. It became popular with mass abductions on Pahlawan Island
in Malaysia in the year 2000. 
