Members of the International Monitoring Team and the Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities are seen on the footbridge leading to the "killing field" in Tukanalipao village in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, where 44 police commandos were killed by heavy gunfire from the MILF, BIFF and private armed groups on January 25. MILF's Mohagher Iqbal reiterated Thursday the rebel group was not turning over to government its fighters who are being accused of killing the SAF men. TV5 SCREENSHOT
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on Thursday reiterated that it will not surrender its fighters accused of killing 44 members of the police Special Action Force (SAF) at Mamasapano town in Maguindanao on January 25.
Mohagher Iqbal, MILF chief negotiator, said there are processes that would address lawless elements in conflict areas based on the agreement they signed with the government.
"We will talk about it. We respect the legal processes of the government; however, we have also signed an agreement with them," Iqbal told reporters in an interview.
"It is not as simple as saying we will turn over our men; it will have to go through a process," he added.
Last month, an investigating team headed by the Department of Justice said that 90 people, mostly MILF members, will face preliminary investigation for the death of the SAF men.
The elite police team clashed with the MILF and its breakaway faction, Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighter (BIFF) in Mamasapano town, after it gunned down international terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir alias Marwan, the subject of arrest warrants along with his trained bomb maker, Filipino Basit Usman. The two terrorists were believed to have taken sanctuary in what is considered MILF territory, but the MILF insisted it was not coddling them.
Last Sunday, Usman, who escaped from the SAF raiders at Mamasapano, was shot dead in another part of Maguindanao, after having been the subject of a massive military-police dragnet since January 25. Initial reports were conflicting about who really killed him, but in the end, the AFP acknowledged the MILF had killed Usman after he strayed into their territory.
Earlier, MILF vice chairman Ghadzali Jaafar said the SAF men were the ones who attacked the MILF members in their villages on January 25, and that the MILF just acted in self defense.
The government and the MILF have a standing cooperative mechanism called the Ad Hoc Joint Action Group (AHJAG), which responds to criminality and terrorism in areas with MILF presence.
The Revised Guidelines aim to advance coordination efforts among the government agencies involved in law enforcement, namely the PNP, the AFP, and the Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH), which is supervised by the government negotiating panel.
AHJAG’s mandate is to coordinate and monitor between and among the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police, and MILF to ensure that law enforcement operations against criminal elements within MILF areas are effectively conducted without jeopardizing the ceasefire between the government and the rebel group.
http://www.interaksyon.com/article/110145/milf-wont-turn-over-fighters-accused-of-killing-saf-44---iqbal
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