MILF exec: No alliance with Abu Sayyaf

From GMA News (Apr 21): MILF exec: No alliance with Abu Sayyaf

Members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front do not have ties with the Abu Sayyaf bandit group, an MILF official stressed Monday.

In an interview, MILF vice chairman for political affairs Ghazali Jaafar said his group has no reason to form an alliance with the Abu Sayyaf after signing a peace deal with the Philippine government.

"Why should we enter into an alliance with the Abu Sayyaf at this point in time when we have signed the comprehensive agreement on the Bangsamoro?" Jaafar told reporters over the phone.

On Sunday, government peace panel chairperson Miriam Coronel-Ferrer said in a statement that some MILF supporters "are intricately involved with" the Abu Sayyaf, particularly with top bandit leader Furuji Indama.

Coronel-Ferrer also said the MILF leadership "should expel from their ranks those who reject peace and are directly or indirectly abetting the hostage-taking and preventing development to set in."

But Jaafar said that such statements are "not supposed to be coming" from the chairman of the government's peace panel.

"She will be misunderstood ... I think mas makabubuti na i-verify natin kung anong ibig sabihin nya, ng mga statement na yun," the MILF official said.

'Very sensitive' issue

Jaafar added that the MILF leadership has not received any reports on alleged connections between their members and the Abu Sayyaf.

"We cannot speculate on this issue, which is very sensitive in the peace process," the MILF official said.

The issue cropped up two weeks ago after MILF members were killed in a military operation against the Abu Sayyaf in Basilan.

Jaafar said the military may have committed a mistake during the operation, resulting in the deaths of some MILF members.

AFP spokesman Major General Domingo Tutaan Jr., however, said those involved in the encounter “can be former MILF members who left or former MILF members who broke away from MILF itself and engaged in criminal activities.” 

Last March 27, the Philippine government and the MILF signed a comprehensive peace deal which aims to end the decades-long armed conflict in Mindanao.

The Abu Sayyaf, which has been blamed for several past kidnapping and bombing incidents in Mindanao, is getting logistical support from the global militant Islamist group al Qaeda, according to local authorities.

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/357752/news/nation/milf-exec-no-alliance-with-abu-sayyaf