Residents flee from their homes for safety after the bloody clashes.

By REXCEL SORZA, IOL Correspondent

ILOILO CITY, Philippines, January 11 (IslamOnline.net) – Negotiations between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) would push through next month despite a fresh round of skirmish that left at least 21 dead, both parties announced Tuesday, January 11.

MILF vice chair Ghazali Jaafar played down the firefight, which broke out Sunday and lasted until around noon Monday, January 10, as “an isolated incident” not sanctioned by the MILF leadership.

In a statement sent to IslamOnline.net Tuesday, Jaafar said, the firefight was “an independent decision of the few that is totally outside the realm of the MILF.” The MILF Central Committee never sanctioned it, he said.

The 100 fighters involved, Jaafar said, “had ‘misdirected’ sympathy with Abu Sufyan commander Bedis Abdulrahman, who died in battle against government troops in Palembang, Sultan Kudarat recently.”

For its part, the Philippine government echoed the same reasoning.

Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said the skirmish, that reportedly left 13 MILF fighters and 8 government soldiers dead, was “an isolated case.”

“We assure that the skirmishes will not in any way affect the on-going peace negotiations,” he said in an official statement issued Tuesday.

Bunye added that those responsible “are being pursued” while “law and order are being restored.” 

He said: “The renegades will be held to account for the treacherous attack.”

He also said that the Philippine government expects the MILF leadership “to impose sanctions on those who instigated the attack.”

Manila Blamed

At the same time, Manila leaves to the Joint Committees on the Cessation of Hostilities the task of ironing things out. “We have the joint ceasefire committees and the international monitoring team working closely with both sides on the ground,” he said.

Jaafar, meanwhile, expressed regrets over the incident that forced hundreds of families to flee for safety. “We regret to say that this bloodletting has been taking place even as the ceasefire is holding effectively in Mindanao and the MILF-GRP Peace Talks have resumed in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia recently.”

He vowed that the MILF continues to “honor the current ceasefire and to continue to search for just, lasting, comprehensive peace in Mindanao through the peace process with the Government of the Republic of the Philippines [GRP].”

The firefight erupted in two towns in Maguindanao province in Mindanao at around 11:30 p.m. January 09 and continued up to noon the following day.

The Moro fighters, some of whom are members of the MILF, overran the outpost of the Philippine Army in the town of Mamasapano, Maguindanao.

They used high-powered weapons such as rocket-propelled grenade launchers and mortars. Helicopter gun ships and artillery fire were called in by military commanders to stave off the attackers from further incursions into their positions.

Bides Abdulrahman, who was named after a famous former Christian-turned-Muslim, was a member of the so-called Abu Sufyan, which figured in the kidnapping of a Korean national more than a year ago.

The International Monitoring Team [IMT], the MILF Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities, and GRP CCCH are now in Mamasapano town in Maguindanao to conduct an ocular investigation of the fighting and to effect an immediate restoration of the ceasefire.

Major General Zulkifeli Mohamad Bin Zain, IMT chief of mission, led the IMT contingent. He is joined by Brunei IMT contingent chief, Lt. Col. Aminuddin Ihsan Bin Hj Abidin, MILF CCCH chief Benjie Midtimbang, Von Al Haq, MILF CCCH incoming head, some other Malaysian officers, and members of the GRP CCCH.

The MILF has been fighting to reclaim Mindanao for some three decades now. It has tried to reach a peaceful solution to the problem through peace talks, which has intermittently been stalled by skirmishes over the years.

The latest bid for a peaceful end to the conflict is being brokered by the Malaysian government, which is hosting the formal round of negotiations in Kuala Lumpur in February.

An international team from Malaysia, Brunei and Libya was sent by the Organization of Islamic Conference last year to observe the ceasefire reached by both parties.