Joint war games between U.S. and Filipino troops

By Kazi Mahmood, IOL Southeast Asia Correspondent

KUALA LUMPUR, May 5 (IslamOnline.net) - The Philippine government, under intense pressure from military commanders is pondering over the use of U.S. Special Forces to battle the surging Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to put an end to fighting in Mindanao, Moro sources said Monday, May 5.

“The aim of the regime in Manila is to eliminate separatism but behind this there is a hidden agenda with the U.S. playing a dangerous role in the region,” said the Moro source that is known as Andang and is involved in the diplomatic circles in Mindanao.

Advisers of President Gloria Arroyo Macapagal earlier revealed, with a story which appeared in the Manila Times earlier this year that the government might declare the MILF a ‘terrorist organization’, which would lead to the U.S. to recognize it as such and make it a target for U.S. and Filipino ‘war games’ in Mindanao.

The purported war games were cancelled after the governor of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao Parouk Hussin urged Arroyo to reconsider her plans.

The MILF group and the Abu Sayyaf gang said they were ready to deal with U.S. Special Forces and soldiers if they were to be sent to Mindanao for special operations against them. The MILF is a well-organized 12,000 men military organization that has survived several wars by the local army.

The Presidency, under constant pressure by some military commanders who does not support peace with the Muslim community in the south have resumed their demands for the use of U.S. forces against the MILF, the Moro diplomat told IslamOnline.net.

Intelligence officials in Manila has also tried, but failed, to tag the MILF as a ‘terror group’ that has links with the al-Qaeda, which is a world ‘terror organization’ according to the U.S.

The Moro source told IslamOnline.net that the local intelligentsia had attempted to penetrate the MILF to establish a link between the group and ‘terror organizations’ worldwide.

“The agenda behind this is to prevent Muslim countries that support the MILF’s struggle from benefiting in the future if a peace treaty is duly signed and enforced in the region,” said Andang.

The entire matter is to prevent Muslim nations from having a hand on the petrol and other rich resources of Mindanao, despite the willingness by Malaysia to host further rounds of talks between the warring factions, Andang said.

“The U.S. has its own interest if Muslim countries like Malaysia, Indonesia and other members of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) are prevented from aiding the Moro’s after peace is reached,” he added.

Malaysia will be hosting another round of "exploratory talks" between the Philippine Government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front on Wednesday, May 7th, the second this year after similar talks on March 27, Defence Minister Najib Tun Abdul Razak said Sunday, may 4.

He hoped that whatever decision achieved during the talks in KL would be followed-up with confidence-building measures to ensure any resolution thereon was abided by, Bernama reported Sunday. 
He said that a long-term solution to the problems in the southern Philippines had to be "on an axis of long-lasting peace."

The Philippine military launched an offensive against MILF positions in Mindanao in February this year after accusing the biggest rebel group of sheltering kidnappers, terrorists and using its base to launch attacks on government sites.

Najib wished there is a cease-fire this time after the talks adding "if there are willingness on both sides, we are confident that this is the best way ahead for the country and also for us." 

"Because then they can bring about peace and they can develop the riches of the south," he said. 

The MILF has been accused of launching fresh attacks against villages and capturing new territories in the South with offensives that resulted in the death of several people in the process, Manila Times reported on Monday.

MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu confirmed the attack, saying two guerrillas were killed and 11 others wounded.

He said the attack was part of the MILF’s offensive against the military and was not meant to harm civilians. He did not give details on the status of the hostages.

A ceasefire agreement signed in Putrajaya, Malaysia in 2001 between Manila and MILF is currently on hold after a military offensive in Pikit early this year. The offensive has also severed official communications between the group and the Philippine government.

The Moro’s under the MILF are fighting for the establishment of an Islamic Mindanao but said they were ready to compromise and accept self-determination of their race in the Mindanao region.