Arrests are seen to have been made to boost Arroyo’s candidacy for re-election

By Rexcel Sorza, IOL Correspondent

ILOILO CITY, April 2 (IslamOnline.net) – The spate of arrests of Muslims, including four Turkish nationals, on terrorism charges did not sit well, not only with government critics, but also with the head of the Philippine Office of Muslim Affairs.

Undersecretary Zamzamin Ampatuan Friday, April 2, chastised government law enforcers for carrying out a series of arrests against Muslims whom they claimed as terrorists.

He called on authorities to exercise caution in the crackdown on suspected terrorists in the country, particularly in Muslim communities, saying that while the government does not single out Muslims in its war against terrorism, authorities should be prudent in pursuing the real culprits.

"We just hope that innocent people are spared from this campaign as this might not solve the problem at all because once we are hitting on innocent people it will only aggravate the problem of terrorism," Ampatuan said in an interview over radio station DZMM.

Should the government keep on effecting arbitrary arrests of innocent individuals to project a positive image in its drive against terrorists, Ampatuan warned, the Filipinos might lose their trust in the government's anti-terror fight.

On Wednesday, four Turkish men at the employ of Ampatuan in his Islamic school Eeman Institute in the Mindanao city of Cotabato were arrested without warrants on terrorism charges. They are Mansur Omercikuglo, Ahmet Kaya, Alpaslan Gul, and Ismael Koyabiyik.

Ampatuan vouched for the innocence of the four, who have been in the country for some three years already, saying the arrest was a frame-up. “I can assure everybody that these people are not involved in terrorist activities. They are here in Mindanao on a mission to educate the Muslims,” said Ampatuan over DXMS radio.

Some six Filipino Muslims have earlier been presented to the public as members of the Abu Sayyaf, a group outlawed by the Philippines and United States for high-profile kidnapping and killing of some kidnap victims.

At least two, however, were reportedly abducted and made to admit the charges through torture.

President Gloria Arroyo, who bragged that the government has averted a “Madrid-style” terrorist attack with the recent series of arrests, defended her government’s move saying, “Questions raised over the legitimacy of the arrests can be fully addressed in the courts.”

On Friday, April 2, Arroyo said: “Terrorism is a crime against all humanity, and there are no political or religious undertones to the anti-terror campaign,” and that “As far as I am concerned, the apprehension of these suspected terrorists is a product of diligence and hard work on the part of the police and the military, which deserves full commendation and praise”.

She assured the people “that the government is using all means at its disposal to stave off this threat.”

Amina Rasul and Amirah Ali Lidasan, Muslim women leaders who are running in the May 10 polls to represent the Muslims in the legislature, assailed Arroyo for ordering the arrests. Rasul said the arrests were made to boost Arroyo’s candidacy for re-election.

Anakpawis National Political Party chairman Crispin Beltran added his voice to the growing list of critics on the spate of arrests.

He said Friday that the Arroyo administration and the military have once more resorted to attacking the Muslim population in the country as part of its campaign to project activeness in the fight against local and international terrorism.

Beltran said that it was not a coincidence that the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police have been conducting raids in the various Muslim communities in the National Capital Region (NCR) as well as in the provinces supposedly in search of supporters of the Abu Sayyaf bandit group and the al-Qaeda terrorist network.

"It is difficult to swallow the boasting of the administration and the PNP regarding the capture of supposed four terrorists and the police's success in thwarting a potential bombing disaster. The government's expose of the entire plot appears scripted and carefully planned.

“It's highly possible that the expose is part of the Arroyo camp's campaign strategy, to ensure the public that Arroyo is a strong leader and on top of the peace and order situation.”

Beltran also said that it was infuriating the way the Arroyo government refuses to acknowledge its responsibility in making the Philippines a target for terrorists.

"Arroyo's shameless support for the U.S. racist and anti-humanity, so-called war on terror is what has placed the Philippines on the map of terrorists, and a target of their attacks. Her refusal to sack corrupt military officials who collude and profit from deals with the Abu Sayyaf has also ensured the survival of the Abu Sayyaf," he said.

"The best way to avoid a Madrid-type disaster is to junk the Philippines' support for the U.S. racist and inhumane war of aggression and terrorist take-over of Iraq. Ex-Spanish president Jose Aznar was thrown out of office via resounding defeat at the polls because of his support for the US war campaign.  To save the Philippines from terrorist attacks, the same should be done to Pres. Gloria Arroyo on May 10," he concluded.