Malaysian terrorist Marwan was in the company of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), the MILF says
DEADLY CLASH. A man points to reporters January 28, 2015 the site where SAF policemen and rebels first engaged in intense fighting on January 25, 2015 in Brgy Tukanalipao, Mamasapano, Maguindanao. Photo by Jeoffrey Maitem/Rappler
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on Saturday, January 31, denied
coddling wanted terrorists Abdulbasit Usman and Zulkipli Bin Hir, better known
as "Marwan."
Days after the deadly clash between rebels and elite cops
in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, MILF chief
negotiator Mohagher Iqbal told reporters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, that
Marwan, an alleged bomb maker, was in the company of the breakaway group
Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), not the MILF.
"The truth will show that we have not been coddling Marwan,"
Iqbal said in joint press conference with government negotiators.
Iqbal reiterated
earlier statements saying that a personality such as Marwan is known to
transfer from one place to another and does not stay in one location.
On calls for the
MILF to prove their commitment to the peace process by turning over Usman, Iqbal
said, "I do not want to sound philosophical but you cannot turn over
something that is not in your possession."
The site of the
encounter that killed at least 44 members of the Philippine National
Police Special Action Force (PNP SAF), 17 MILF members, and 7 civilians is a known bailiwick of
the MILF. The government said Marwan was killed in the operation but Usman was
able to escape.
Members of both the MILF and BIFF reside in the area. Not only are some of
these members related to each other, some of them also allegedly identify as
both MILF and BIFF members. (Mamasapano: Sleepy
town roused by SAF-MILF clash)
Iqbal refused to react to such reports.
Asked how the MILF regards the BIFF in relation to the peace process, Iqbal
said: "The BIFF is not a part of the MILF. It is a distinct and separate
organization. They do not believe in the way of peace. That's it," Iqbal
said.
The MILF has
maintained it acted in self-defense during the encounter and blamed the PNP SAF
team for failing to coordinate with them as provided in its ceasefire agreement
with the government. (Inside story: SAF kept military out of the
loop)
Both the
government and the MILF have called the incident a "misencounter" but
the disparity in the number of casualties from both sides has triggered
criticisms of a possible overkill on the side of the MILF.
Mechanisms
in place
President Benigno
Aquino III has challenged the MILF to take more concrete action to help give
justice to those who died in the encounter.
Should the MILF
find Usman in their territory, would the MILF arrest him and turn him over to
authorities?
Von Al Haq,
spokesperson of MILF's armed wing, said there are mechanisms in place designed
to respond to such situations under the Ad Hoc Joint Action Group (AHJAG).
The AHJAG is
designed to "isolate" criminal elements found to be within MILF
territories, Al Haq said.
It provides that
the MILF can inform the government of terrorists in the area but it is the role
of the police and the military to go after them, Al Haq added.
Iqbal said the
government and the MILF are working on "upgrading" the mandate of the
AHJAG following the Mamasapano encounter.
Iqbal maintained
that the Mamasapano clash was a "pure and simple misencounter."
The MILF is
conducting its own probe into the Maguindanao clash, aside from parallel
investigations of the government and the International Monitoring Team
overseeing both sides' ceasefire agreement.
Amid public
outcry over the clash, both the government and the MILF are pushing through
with the peace process.
The terms of the decommissioning of rebel
firearms were signed in Kuala
Lumpur
The MILF signed a
peace agreement with the government in March 2014 after 17 years of
negotiations that aim to end 4 decades of armed conflict in the Southern Philippines
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