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By Kazi Mahmood KUALA LUMPUR (IslamOnline) - Moro Islamic freedom fighters in the Philippines stepped up their call for a jihad against the Philippine government as they announced they were open to autonomy. The Moro's of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) are fighting for self-rule in the southern Philippines. MILF Vice Chairman for Military Affairs, Al Haj Muhammad Murad, thought dead by the Philippine authorities, resurfaced to condemn an amnesty offer by Phillipine President Joseph Estrada. Murad said their should be peace talks, but they should be held in a Muslim country near the Philippines, namely Malaysia or Indonesia. He said the government should show sincerity in solving the conflict in the southern Mindanao region by dropping preconditions for the resumption of talks, removing bounties on MILF leaders, and respecting previous agreements, including a 1997 cease-fire accord. "The MILF still believes that the solution to the Mindanao conflict is a negotiated political solution," Murad said. "We remain open to everything," said Murad, "We do not say we don't want autonomy. If it will solve the [Muslim's] problem, then we will accept it. If independence is the ultimate solution, then we will fight for it." Murad appeared before reporters for the first time since March, when the military reported that he was injured or killed when soldiers captured the MILF headquarters, Camp Abubakar, in early July. "I am alive and kicking," he said. About 150 MILF members, many wearing uniforms, accompanied him. Murad held the news conference in a forest hideout just five kilometers from his former office, which has been turned into a government army outpost. On Thursday, Estrada accepted the surrender of 609 MILF members and called on the others to resume peace talks. Murad claimed many of those who surrendered had been expelled months earlier by the MILF for involvement in criminal activities such as kidnapping, robbery and extortion, while others were ordinary civilians who wanted to take advantage of the government's money-for-guns program. "No bona fide member surrendered," he said. Jihad call reasserted "We will continue our counterattacks against government forces, military, CAFGU [militiamen], and policemen and their allies," Murad said, referring to an earlier declaration of jihad, or holy war, by MILF head Hashim Salamat. Salamat cancelled peace talks with the government and called for the jihad after a military offensive earlier this year, which resulted in the capture of dozens of MILF camps. Murad denied the MILF were behind a series of massacres, kidnappings and civilian bomb attacks in recent weeks, saying, "Jihad does not call for inflicting harm on non-combatants." He indicated that the MILF was still in control of parts of the sprawling 10,000-hectare (24,700 acre) area, which consisted the Camp Abu Bakar. In July, the military declared they had captured the camp, including the houses of top MILF commanders. President Joseph Estrada had visited the area to celebrate the event. Murad said the area captured by the military was only a fraction of the camp that was the headquarters of the 15,000 strong liberation movement. Guerrilla Warfare He belittled government claims of having defeated the MILF, saying the movement has grown larger and stronger despite setbacks. Murad said the shift to guerrilla warfare would deal additional blows on the military and noted the series of debacles suffered by the armed forces from the New People's Army (NPA), the long-running insurgency government officials like to call "a rag tag group." Other senior MILF officers are undergoing re-training, according to a report verified by Miitary Intelligence Chief Lt. Gen. Jose Calimlim. Calimlim said some Moro separatists came from NPA camps in Mindanao. Other fighters, he added, would be going to Visayas and Luzon for more intensive training. Calimlim said the joint training was planned during a recent meeting between MILF and NPA leaders in Central Mindanao, but that groups are still finalizing transport and logistic needs. Lessons Moro spokesman Eid Kabalu revealed that he learned some lessons in more than six months of fighting with government troops, in which the MILF experienced intense aerial and ground bombardment, losing more than 40 camps. Kabalu states the movement never lost the camps, and that "the military had never 'recovered' separatist territory. Every capture involved a walk into an empty camp by the soldiers," he said. He added the army had seized very little arms, and even less of vital transport and communication logistic equipment. |
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