Now we're back to placating the Muslims, again :armyroleyes:

full story

Well maybe the AFP couldn't hack it chasing the rebels now dispersed over the area, its a fairly common tactic to declare a truce to save face from all the bravado in the heat of war.

According to Madam Gloria's latest pronouncement - she's not amenable to a truce with the MBG, but then she also promised not to seek reelection before...

:devilwink:

this has become a cycle - truce, war, truce, war, truce, war...and so on and so forth...

nakakahilo na... :armytwisted:

Get Malik and the other major leaders first before agreeing to a truce.

Negotiate from a position of strength.

read this and weep :armysad:

AFP gains truce with MNLF rebels, trains eye on Sayyaf


Sunday, 02/27/2005

After almost a month of fierce fighting in the South where nearly 100 soldiers and Moslem rebels have been killed, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) yesterday was able to reach an informal truce with a breakaway faction of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) loyal to detained former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Gov. Nur Misuari.

Gov. Ben Loong of the Sulu island province capital of Jolo told government officials he helped broker the agreement with MNLF leader Ustadz Habier Malik, who led his forces in an uprising in Jolo earlier this month.

“We cannot say it's a ceasefire but we call it a gentleman's talk between the Armed Forces and the MNLF,” Loong said.

Malik, a loyal follower of jailed MNLF founder Misuari, led about 300 MNLF fighters supported by the Abu Sayyaf in attacks on military outposts in Jolo on Feb. 6, triggering fighting that claimed the lives of 25 soldiers and about 70 rebels.

More than 27,000 persons have fled their homes in the province due to the clashes.

Although Malik's base in the jungles outside Panamao town had been captured and his forces dispersed, the fugitive religious leader remains in hiding with many of his armed followers still at large.

Loong said he was able to contact Malik, with both sides agreeing to refrain from attacking each other.

The governor said he then spoke to an unnamed military officer who told him that “we will not go there (to Malik's hideout) as long as they don't attack.”

But Loong added the Abu Sayyaf “are a different story from the MNLF,” recalling that both Washington and Manila had linked the group to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terror network.

“We cannot blame the military if it is still launching offensives...because there are so many Abu Sayyaf (members) who are being pursued by the soldiers,” he said.

The agreement gives the AFP the freedom to send more troops after the Abu Sayyaf who are largely based in the towns of Patikul and Indanan in Sulu.

Loong told Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman and visiting Sen. Richard Gordon there had been no fresh fighting since soldiers overran an Abu Sayyaf camp in the jungles outside of Indanan on Thursday, killing about 10 rebels.

But the AFP yesterday said military operations will continue against the remaining remnants of the Abu Sayyaf despite the recent capture of their stronghold in Indanan.

AFP Southern Command (Southcom) chief, Lt. Gen. Alberto Branganza said ground forces in the area are presently pursuing members of the extremist group who fled away after combined forces of the Philippine Army and Marines flushed them away from their Camp Karawan stronghold.

The military said the camp was formerly occupied by at least 100 Abu Sayyaf members.

The Abu Sayyaf defenders then broke up into small groups as troops, backed by helicopter gunships firing rockets, assaulted the camp on top of Budkaha Mountain.

Reports added the group shot at soldiers belonging to the Army's 75th Infantry Battalion before fleeing.

Six wounded Abu Sayyaf bandits are still undergoing treatment at the sprawling camp when the attack took place, Braganza said.

The fall of the bandit lair in the jungles outside Indanan eliminated a key Abu Sayyaf sanctuary, he added.

Braganza, at the same time, said the pursuit operations are being conducted to immediately arrest the group's two leaders, commanders Umbra Jumdail alias Dr. Abu and Albader Parad.

“We will not stop until we get all of them. Pursuit operations will continue,” the military official said.

The government has been cracking down on the Abu Sayyaf after a spokesman of the group claimed responsibility for near-simultaneous bombings in Manila and the southern cities of Gen. Santos and Davao on Feb. 14 which killed as many as 12 persons and injured some 100 others.

The Abu Sayyaf said the Valentine's Day bombings were in retaliation for the attacks on Malik's forces.

Officials, however, said Malik and other MNLF commanders have kept their distance from the Abu Sayyaf although some of the lower ranking fighters have mixed loyalties.

The Abu Sayyaf are known mainly for kidnapping-for-ransom and bombing attacks against Christians and foreigners in the Philippines and their show of sympathy for the MNLF fighters has largely been considered as an attempt to make political gain from the fighting.

President Arroyo, meanwhile, said she will decide on Thursday whether she will order the military to call a formal ceasefire with the MNLF rebels amid calls for the immediate suspension of military operations in Mindanao.

In a media interaction during her visit at Miag-ao town in the central island province of Iloilo, Mrs. Arroyo said she will send AFP chief Lt. Gen. Efren Abu to Mindanao on Tuesday to assess the situation there and provide a report to her so she could make a decision on the matter.

“So on Thursday, I will probably be ready to give an instruction to the Secretary of National Defense,” she said.

Press Secretary and presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye, for his part, said the AFP has already submitted a preliminary report on the situation in Mindanao and it is expected to provide additional updates to the Palace within the next few days.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front earlier offered to broker a ceasefire between the MNLF guerillas and the government forces after local officials in Sulu appealed to the two parties to call for a truce for the sake of the civilian residents affected by the clashes.

But the government firmly said it would only start talking ceasefire with the renegade MNLF gunmen only after the Southcom “has completed the last stages of its mission and attained its objectives.”

Mrs. Arroyo had earlier said she would wait first for newly confirmed National Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz's recommendation before she makes a decision on whether to order a ceasefire or not.

Cruz though said he still has to discuss the situation with Abu before they send Braganza to submit the recommendation to Mrs. Arroyo, through Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita.

Defense and military officials firmly believe the attacks were ordered by Misuari despite his confinement in a cell inside a military camp in Sta. Rosa town, Laguna province. Misuari, however, denied the allegation and said what could have triggered the attacks was the reported slaughter by the Marines of a family in Sulu that happened to be related to Malik, who is also Misuari's spiritual adviser. Mel Cabigting, Amita O. Legaspi and AFP

http://www.tribune.net.ph/index.html

To some, war is business and a tool by some senior military officers to gain media mileage so that they will reach the stars. Look at Mr Braganza who is still hoping to be the next AFP Chief of Staff.

Who gained prominence during the past Sulu conflicts? CIMATU, ABAYA, TOLENTINO, NAZARENO, VILLANUEVA, REYES and now, BRAGANZA

Who failed miserably because of Sulu conflicts? REGINO LACSON, ERNESTO CAROLINA, TEODULFO BAUTISTA, LUCERO

Kawawang sundalong Pilipino... :crawling: :crawling:

as usual its the lowly enlistedman that suffers, all for the self-interests of the powers that be...kaya di matapostapos ang gulo sa mindanao dahil walang decesiveness :grrr:

Truce at this time will only demoralize our own troops.

This will make it appear to them as if Malacanang is taking a frail and even fishy stand on this again.

Malik and his men must be caught to emphasize that the govt will give the same response to those who will dare repeat this attack.

They are considered as renegades by the MNLF anyway! :exactly:

We have to get them all pay for what they did to our soldiers and the havoc they brought to the civilian communities!

If we dont, then they will do this again..... and again! :bs:

The govt is being fooled here! :exactly:

The only acceptable option?

Get Malik and his men to surrender.

NO TRUCE!

Let them all give it up and surrender all their firearms.

DONT FORGET TO ELIMINATE THE ABU SAYYAF TOO. :thumb:

Mrs. Arroyo found an unlikely ally in deposed President Joseph Estrada, who aired his support for the government’s continuing military offensives against the Muslim rebels.

"I am against any and all calls for yet another ceasefire, which will only allow these bandits time to regroup and then renew their hostilities against the government," Estrada said in a statement sent through his spokesman, former Maguindanao congressman Didagen Dilangalen.

The former president’s stand runs counter to the position taken by his allies in the House of Representatives, led by Minority Leader Francis Escudero, who urged Mrs. Arroyo to declare a ceasefire.

Estrada warned that the government must be decisive "in dealing a fatal blow to the Abu Sayyaf and MNLF terrorists. Otherwise, these clashes will become a regular occurrence and we will never have any hope of bringing lasting peace to Mindanao."

He noted that history shows "ceasefires are counterproductive and are only utilized by these misguided forces to their advantage."

Estrada noted that in 2000, he ordered an all-out assault on Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) camps in Mindanao.

"The operation was carried out successfully, including the capture of Camp Abubakar. Peace reigned in the region," he said.

Estrada also lamented that his predecessor, former President Fidel Ramos, blamed him for the ongoing armed conflict in Mindanao. He pointed out that it was under the retired general’s term that the "Muslim secessionist and extremist movements grew by leaps and bounds."

Ramos "is trying so hard to twist historical facts to hide his failure as a president and commander-in-chief even after forging a peace accord" with the MNLF, he said.

Estrada added that "the military, under my command, did what was constitutionally right for the country and the Filipino people."

FULL DETAIL:

http://philstar.com/philstar/NEWS200503010403.htm

=====================================================


Erap is one of the best Presidents of this country when it comes to deciding on issues like these.

Better than Ramos even, i guess.

:thumb:

Heads up generals - your ground commanders and junior officers don't want a truce:

http://news.inq7.net/breaking/index.php?in...&story_id=29196

Citing this part;

.........

When asked if the military is totally shutting the door on a truce with the MNLF, Pascual said: "Iba ang ayaw at iba ang may military objective [Being unwilling and military objectives are two different things.]."

Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Efren Abu flew to Sulu on Tuesday to get the pulse of military commanders on the possibility of declaring a ceasefire with the MNLF.

..........

... then i believe that the hunt will go on until the field commanders ARE SATISFIED WITH WHAT THEY HAVE ACHIEVED.

Yan ang tunay na sundalo...sumusugod para malutas ang problema.

Hindi puro pagpapayaman sa pamamagitan ng paggamit ng kapangyarihang magdesisyun.

A soldier wounded in the Sulu battle speaks;

"Bakit pa tayo mag ceasefire, tumatakbo na ang kalaban? Pag hinayaan na naman natin sila, mag regroup na naman iyan at mag-aarmas para umatake uli (Why would we have a ceasefire when the enemy is running? If we leave them be, they will only regroup and arm themselves anew),"

"Ilan pang sundalo ang mamamatay (How many more soldiers will die)?"

- a wounded Army officer, now confined at the military hospital in V. Luna lamented.



REFERENCE:

http://philstar.com/philstar/NEWS200503030408.htm

what's new, our goverments have always negotiated for weak concessions when it is in the point of strength. Someday they will need the votes and they can claim the blood debt sometime next election or maybe for a referendum. Besides to them soldiers are like cattle, what do they expect? Mas mataas pa gastos ng farm hog and cattle operators everyday to feed their livestock than what we allot to our soldier's mess allowance. Isn't that bitter?

This fishy negotiation even casts a shadow of doubt on these leaders.

Their decisions make it appear as if they dont care about the people who have died fighting for us.

The soldiers in the field were right when they said that halting the offensive now will only embolden the rebels to repeat the carnage later on.

Totally neutralizing them will surely save a lot of lives in the long term even on the other side since there'll be less chances of similar conflicts.

That's what the soldiers are trying to point out.

End their aggressiveness now so that there be less battles to deal with in the future, which will definitely result to much less casualties on both sides including the civilians who are oftentimes caught in the crossfires.

MNLF to attack gov’t sites, AFP camps

MISUARI FOLLOWERS ON ‘WAR’ FOOTING, SAYS REBEL OFFICER

While the Philippine National Police is bracing for supposed attacks that would be launched by the extremist group Abu Sayyaf in Metro Manila, another Moslem armed force — the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) — is now on a “war mode” and would strike at government installations and military detachments in the central part of the country's volatile southern Mindanao region.

The MNLF's saber-rattling was disclosed yesterday by a ranking officer of the separatist group and cited the government's attacks on Moslems, starting with the so-called Panamao massacre in Sulu province in Mindanao weeks ago and the killing of Moslem inmates, almost all of them members of the Abu Sayyaf, in Camp Bagong Diwa in Metro Manila's Taguig town early this week, to justify the battle-ready stance.

more

MILF says Nur should be freed

First posted 11:48pm (Mla time) Nov 11, 2005
By Jeoffrey Maitem
Inquirer News Service



Editor's Note: Published on Page A17 of the November 12, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer


COTABATO CITY—THE MORO Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the largest of four Muslim rebel groups in Mindanao, appealed yesterday for the release of the detained leader of a rival guerrilla faction.

The MILF is talking with the government about a peace deal to end a nearly 40-year conflict that has killed more than 120,000 people and stalled development of the resource-rich southern island of Mindanao.

“We’re appealing to the government to free Nur Misuari from jail on humanitarian grounds,” said Mohaqher Iqbal, head of the MILF negotiating panel.

“Misuari is not only a recognized Moro leader, but his health is declining.” Misuari was the founder and former head of the moderate Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), a rebel group that signed an Indonesian-brokered peace deal with the government in 1996.

The MNLF split into two 1978 and the MILF was formed in 1984 from dissident members led by Salamat Hashim, a Muslim cleric who died in 2003.

“We see the effort

to free Misuari as part of the Muslim rebels’ consolidation process,” said a senior army intelligence official. “The MILF used to be part of Misuari’s secessionist guerrilla forces. They could be working for a merger.”

The intelligence official said the MILF wanted to expand its influence ahead of a possible peace deal with the government of the mainly Roman Catholic country.

Since January 2002, Misuari has been detained at a national police camp in Laguna while being tried for leading a failed rebellion on the southwestern island of Jolo in November 2001.

“As Muslims, we sympathize with his plight,” Iqbal said, adding the MILF would not raise the issue during negotiations.

“We share a common aspiration and cause, fighting for the same dream of self-determination for the ‘bangsamoro’ people.”

Misuari, a former university professor, organized the MNLF in the late 1960s to seek an independent Muslim state, winning recognition from the Organization of the Islamic Conference in the early 1970s.

In December 1976, he agreed to accept an autonomy offer under a Libyan-brokered peace agreement, signing a truce that ended the violent secessionist war on Mindanao.

The deal did not last long because the government, under the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, reneged on its agreement to give minority Muslims self-rule in 13 provinces.

When Marcos was removed in a bloodless “people power” revolt in 1986, the new government under Corazon Aquino convinced the MNLF to negotiate a new peace deal.

Misuari signed a new peace deal in September 1996 and was elected as governor of the four-province Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

His term was extended twice until November 2001, when he led a failed rebellion on Jolo to block new elections in ARMM.

He tried escaping to nearby Sabah state on the northern tip of Borneo island but was intercepted by Malaysian border guards.

not again.... i dont trust this jerks :brrt:

Misuari back as MNLF chairman

First posted 01:25pm (Mla time) Feb 16, 2006
By Nash Maulana
Inquirer


COTABATO CITY -- Nur Misuari is back as chairman of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), a ranking MNLF official said on Thursday.

Muslimin Sema, MNLF secretary general, said the Council of 15 that ousted and succeeded Misuari had decided to dissolve itself and restore the MNLF’s organizational structure to the pre-peace agreement structure.

"The decision has, in effect, reinstalled Misuari to the MNLF chairmanship," he said.

Sema said a directorate was temporarily put in place to handle the day-to-day affairs and operations of the MNLF while Misuari is in jail.

Misuari is detained on charges of rebellion in connection with a 2001 mutiny staged in Cabatangan, Zamboanga City by a handful of MNLF men under Julamri Misuari, his nephew.

Misuari is currently on medical furlough at the St. Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon City.


http://news.inq7.net/breaking/index.php?in...&story_id=66366

Men of Misuari helping in war on Sayyaf, JI

Inquirer
Last updated 08:41pm (Mla time) 12/15/2006

ZAMBOANGA CITY -- Forces loyal to Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) chair Nur Misuari have started joining soldiers in actual combat operations against the Abu Sayyaf and operatives of the Jemaah Islamiyah in Sulu, military commanders said.

Marine Brigadier General Benjamin Dolorfino, who also heads the government’s Ad-Hoc Joint Action Group (AHJAG), said the participation of MNLF forces under commander Ustadz Habier Malik and another MNLF commander was seen to speed up the manhunt against Abu Sayyaf bandits led by Khadaffy Janjalani, Jainal Antel Sali, Isnilon Hapilon and Radulan Sahiron, and Indonesian bomb experts Dulmatin and Omar Patek.

The MNLF signed a peace pact with Manila in 1996 but its forces, particularly in Sulu, have often clashed with soldiers.

The military had accused them of coddling or working with Abu Sayyaf bandits, but the allegation was denied by local MNLF leaders.

In May, Dolorfino worked out an agreement that would end the hostilities between soldiers and the MNLF in Sulu.

“They are now actively involved in the actual military operations and very soon, with their cooperation, we can get these local and foreign terrorists,” Dolorfino said.

He said the latest operation involving MNLF combatants was the one conducted in the town of Kalinggalang Caluang. He did not specify when the operation was conducted but said it was successful.

Brigadier General Juancho Sabban, commander of the 3rd Marine Brigade based in Sulu, said that previously, MNLF combatants only provided information to the military.

“Today, in certain military operations, they join our troops and we welcome this arrangement. It’s better to have the MNLF on our side because they are very reactive and supportive,” Sabban said.

He said to maximize the participation of the MNLF in the area, MNLF commanders also join planning sessions on operations.

While the operation in Sulu was being conducted, the military said it has been receiving reports that the so-called high-value targets were no longer on the island-province.

Major Eugene Batara, spokesperson for the military’s Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom), told reporters there were pieces of information the “high-value targets have already fled to the Lanao areas.”

But Chief Superintendent Joel Goltiao, Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) police chief, told the Inquirer they have not received information about ranking Abu Sayyaf leaders or JI operatives in Lanao del Sur.

“They are not in Lanao del Sur. Who will keep them there? Muslim rebels ... the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) will not allow it,” Goltiao said.

Even the MILF, which is talking peace with the government, said it has not monitored the presence of terrorists in the two Lanao provinces.

“We are monitoring but there are no signs. If they are in the area, we can allow military operations and we will also help,” Mohagher Iqbal, MILF chief negotiator, said.

The MILF has agreed to cooperate in the government’s anti-terror drive to boost the peace process.

Meanwhile, Goltiao said Indonesian and Filipino security forces have stepped-up cooperation against criminals, including terrorists, particularly on the aspect of joint training and conduct of patrols.

“Those (assigned) in the program will watch the shores to neutralize smugglers, illegal fishers and terrorists like the Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah militants,” Goltiao said. Julie Alipala and Jeoffrey Maitem, Inquirer Mindanao

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/...rticle_id=38561

With Chairman Nur Misuari planning to run as Governor, I hope they are not just planning to gain more grounds.

AFP battles MNLF; 18 killed
By Jaime Laude And Roel Pareño
The Philippine Star 04/15/2007


JOLO, Sulu – Eighteen people, including two Marines and a child, were killed in fresh fighting between the military and renegade members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in Panamao and Talipao towns in Sulu yesterday.

Fifteen rebels were killed and 17 other soldiers wounded in the fighting, which was triggered by a mortar attack on Panamao town Friday night by a renegade MNLF group led by Habier Malik.

The militants also attacked a Marine detachment in Barangay Tayugan.

‘’A child was killed and other another one was wounded,’’ Marine spokesman Lt. Col. Ariel Caculitan said.

A senior military official told The STAR of mounting casualties on both sides as of press time.

It was the same MNLF group that briefly held hostage in February several defense and military officials led by National Capital Region Command chief Maj. Gen. Ben Dolorfino to press for the inclusion of MNLF founding chairman Nur Misuari in the tripartite review of the 1996 peace accord.

Yesterday’s fighting triggered massive evacuation from five neighboring barangays.

The military dispatched at least 10 attack helicopters and four OV-10 Bronco bombers to soften the MNLF’s defenses and pave the way for the capture of the rebel camp in Panamao.

"We will take the rebel camp before this day (Saturday) ends,’’ a ground commander said.

But Malik told ABS-CBN and Al Jazeera that his men were prepared for a long-drawn battle with government troops. The military earlier declared the battle zones off-limits to media.

The Western Mindanao Command (Wesmincom) headed by Lt. Gen. Eugenio Cedo and the Western Mindanao regional police under Chief Superintendent Jaime Caringal were bracing for a possible spillover of hostilities to the Zamboanga Peninsula.

Troops from the 44th Infantry Battalion of the 102nd Infantry Brigade as well as policemen from the PNP Special Reconnaissance Platoon of the Regional Mobile Group (RGM) were deployed near the MNLF camp in Siraway, Zamboanga del Norte to keep the camp from being used as another staging point for attacks by the MNLF. Checkpoints have also sprouted around Zamboanga City.

The Wesmincom leadership instructed ground commanders to hold their line and not to expect immediate reinforcement.

Maj. Gen. Ruben Rafael, commander of Task Force Comet based in Jolo, said 10 to 15 MNLF commanders have deserted Malik’s group to side with the government.

He said the military is "on active defense mode’’ to prevent the hostilities from escalating.

"The attack is a clear violation of the 1996 peace agreement between the government and the MNLF,’’ Rafael said.

"The senseless attack staged by Malik’s group has claimed lives, including an innocent child, and wounded another which is tantamount to murder and frustrated murder,’’ Rafael added.

Maj. Eugene Batara, Westmincom spokesman, said Barangay Seit in Panamao sustained 16 mortar rounds from Malik’s group, forcing residents to evacuate.

Seit was a beneficiary of a recent US-led rehabilitation program. It was not immediately known if any infrastructure project under the rehabilitation program was damaged in the mortar attacks.

At Malacañang, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita appealed to the breakaway MNLF group to stop its attacks on government and civilian targets.

"We are hoping that they stop fighting with government forces because this would not accomplish anything,’’ Ermita said.

"We have a peace agreement with the MNLF. We hope that they understand that the government is doing everything to implement what has yet to be implemented (in the peace agreement),’’ he added.

"We all know who Ustadz Malik is. He heads the Misuari breakaway group (of the MNLF),’’ the executive secretary said.

The MNLF signed a peace pact with the government in 1996. The agreement paved the way for the creation of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao with Misuari as its first governor.

Battling allegations of corruption, Misuari had a falling out with the government, forcing him to launch another rebellion in 2001 that left hundreds dead. He fled to Malaysia but was eventually captured and made to face rebellion charges. He is under house arrest in New Manila, Quezon City.

Some Muslim groups are lobbying for his release to attend the tripartite meeting in Saudi Arabia in July. The MNLF is still recognized by the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Conference as the sole representative of the Muslim minority in the Philippines.

The military has deployed around 7,000 troops in Sulu to flush out remnants of the Abu Sayyaf and the Indonesia-based Jemaah Islamiyah, particularly the two principal suspects in the 2002 Bali bombings, Umar Patek and Dulmatin. More than 200 people, mostly Western tourists, were killed in the bombings in Indonesia’s famous resort island of Bali.

Earlier, Armed Forces of the Philippines chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. said the military is prepared to send more troops to Sulu "as the need arises.’’

OIC appeals to military, MNLF to stop fighting
By Veronica Uy
INQUIRER.net
Last updated 08:47pm (Mla time) 04/16/2007


MANILA, Philippines -- The Organization of Islamic Conference has asked the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Moro National Liberation Front to stop the fighting that has taken lives from both sides and has displaced countless civilians, the Department of Foreign Affairs told INQUIRER.net Monday.

In an interview, Rafael Seguis, DFA undersecretary for special concerns, said the OIC also proposed the creation of a small military monitoring mission in Sulu province.

Seguis said the OIC, which was winding down its senior officials' meeting in Jeddah, has “appealed for a cessation of hostilities and for the disengagement of military forces” by the two parties.

But Seguis said the Philippines had not yet agreed on the proposal for a monitoring team.

“They [OIC] have not approached us but I will immediately relay this information to the concerned higher authorities [at the] AFP and the President,” he said.

Seguis said the proposal for a military monitoring mission was “unnecessary” as the MNLF attacks on Philippine forces was a “criminal act.”

The DFA official said the Philippine military was in hot pursuit of terrorist groups.

“The situation in Sulu is untenable. It was not about the peace agreement, but about the Philippine forces exercising its duty to run after JI [Jemaah Islamiyah],” he said.

The firefight “was provoked by an attack of Habier Malik,” Seguis said, referring to the MNLF commander and his followers’ attack on a Marine base near Panamao town in Jolo last Friday, killing two Marines and a civilian and triggering a firefight. It was not clear why Malik had raided the Marine base.

The military responded by capturing Malik’s camp in the same town Sunday.

The peace agreement between the Philippine government and the MNLF forged in 1996 was “not about the enforcement of Philippine laws.”

The OIC, GRP, and MNLF were scheduled to hold tripartite talks on the second phase of the peace pact in July, and Seguis said details of the talks would be finalized during the Islamabad meeting of the OIC's Committee of Eight in May.

The OIC, which has a senior officials meeting from April 14 to 16, had brokered the GRP-MNLF peace pact.

DONT EVER STOP until we finish off the rebellions. :rifle: :fire:

... and now the Abu Sayaff started taking hostages again!

The dragnet was a failure in some aspect because the remaining leaders remain alive.

THE GOVT CAN ONLY DEFEAT THIS IF THEY WILL HEED THE CALL TO BEEF UP THE "CAPABILITY" OF THE AFP, THROUGH THE MODERNIZATION PROGRAM.

More firepower.

Much better mobility ....... by air primarily.

Better intelligence system.

As it seems, the rebels still feel they can confront the AFP easily. They feel they keep on with the guerilla tactics and break free from any blockade the military can put up.

It only means something. That's weak intelligence capability, weak mobility and firepower.

With the latest incidents, expect that economic growth on those areas will be driven back to square one, which would result to ... MORE HUNGER and MORE WARS.

The danger here is that Malik is using religion as a way to attract support from the people.

His connection with the ASG presents a big problem as well.

If the reports that he coddled the ASG are real then the AFP must now bring Malik's reign to an end.

Malik must be captured to prevent his group from resuscitating large-scale violence in the south. His ties with the ASG makes it all very disturbing.

I suggests that a negotiation for Malik's surrender be considered to save more lives and give Malik and his men the chance to set things right.

If Malik will join forces with the Abu Sayaff, then he must be neutralized at all cost since this will surely spur more violence in the South once the ASG is reenergized.

Malik is almost as charismatic as Abdurajak Janjalani, the original ASG chieftain. That's the danger. A resurgence of violence will only hamper economic growth in Mindanao.

As for the ASG, what has happened lately is proof that the only way to ensure that the ASG will never terrorize us again is to TOTALLY ANNIHILATE the ASG core and its new members.

Officials say heads of 7 hostages delivered to army detachment in southern Philippines
04/19 10:01:49 PM

MANILA (AP) - The heads of seven men who were kidnapped by Muslim extremists on southern Jolo island were delivered to a Philippine army detachment on Thursday, officials said. The men -- six road project workers and a dried-fish factory worker _ were snatched at gunpoint in two separate incidents Monday near the town of Parang. The Abu Sayyaf, which is on a list of U.S. terrorist groups and has a reputation for bombings, mass abductions and beheadings, has been the target of a massive U.S.-backed military offensive on Jolo that started in August and has killed its top two leaders.

http://www.philstar.com/philstar/NEWS_FLAS...92007469_20.htm

The ASG is now taking it to a psywar level. The reason they did this is that they want to tell the world that they are still capable.

The AFP should do all it can to COMPLETELY EXTERMINATE these pigs.

Don't mind about the new recruits. THE AFP HAS MORE THAN ENOUGH BULLETS TO SEND ALL TERRORISTS TO HELL ANYWAY. Even if they get new recruits everyday.

I suggest you skin them alive or cut their heads off and stick their heads on a pole for the rest to see.

We should show no mercy for these pigs.

BAKIT NGA BA NAKATAKAS ANG IBANG ABU SAYAFF?

NAKATAKAS BA O PINATAKAS?

SINU NA NAMAN KAYA SA MGA HENERAL SA MINDANO ANG NABILI NG ASG?

If the military cannot seal off Sulu, i suggest they redeploy the soldiers assigned to the communities in Metro Manila to help seal off what needs to be saeled off.

But sometimes, this comes to mind;

"WHAT'S THE NEED TO SEAL OFF THE AREA WHEN THE GENERALS CAN BE BOUGHT TO MAKE THEIR OWN MEN GO BLIND."

As I have suggested before, PGMA must assign a general who will manage the whole operation. When the operation fails, fire the inept general and investigate him for his failure.

Withdraw all his retirement benefits and dismiss him from the service and investigate his properties if these are all ill-gotten.

Kung matigas yung general patira na lang sa sniper teams ng PSG. Magaling naman military diyan eh. Di naman siguro lahat ng opisyal sa AFP kadikit niya.

Islamic religious leaders condemn Sulu beheadings as ‘evil’

INQUIRER.net, Inquirer
Last updated 00:30am (Mla time) 04/21/2007


COTABATO CITY, Philippines -- Islamic religious leaders in the southern Philippines expressed shock and outrage over the grisly killing of seven Abu Sayyaf hostages in Sulu province and a unified sermon delivered in mosques Friday condemned terror acts as “evil.”

Aleem Sharif Jul Aberin, the mufti or guardian of the House of Opinion of Sulu, said holding innocent people hostage for ransom, and worse, beheading them, escaped both faith and reason.

The Muslims’ House of Opinion issues guidance on the Islamic doctrine and on social issues.

Aberin said whoever committed the crime had lost sense of the basic belief that God was all just, and that by His assurance in the Koran, "No soul shall suffer from least injustice in the Day of Reckoning."

The seven -- six road construction laborers and a fish worker -- were kidnapped at gunpoint by suspected Abu Sayyaf extremists last Sunday.

Four days later on Thursday, their severed heads were delivered to the military.

Aleem Mohammad Sulaiman of the Mindanao Ulama Congress blamed what he described was the "ignorance" of perpetrators of the heinous crime.

A unified sermon written by the muftis and delivered in mosques in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) on Friday also spoke about how precious life is.

"Life is considered too precious to be taken carelessly,” the sermon or khutba, declared. “Terrorism is evil. Terrorism is indiscriminate. An act of terror does not distinguish between combatant and civilian, innocent or guilty."

"Muslims cannot dishonor a treaty; they cannot mutilate the dead; they cannot kill women, children, the elderly or any person who does not carry weapons. A Muslim cannot kill those engaged in worship, like monks or priests or Rabbis; we cannot cut down trees or burn crops or poison water supplies [i.e. use chemical weapons],” it said.

“We are only allowed to kill those who physically attack us, intending to kill us," it added.

The Abu Sayyaf has been passing itself off as an Islamist group.

The muftis emphasized two teachings of the Prophet Muhammad, in which He said: "A true Muslim is he in whose hands all of humankind has a sanctuary for life and property."

"Whoever kills a Dhimmi [non-party to the combat] is not even going to smell the fragrance of Paradise."

The Abu Sayyaf is on a US blacklist of terrorist organizations and has a reputation for bombings, kidnappings and beheadings in the Philippines.

The notorious group and its Indonesian allies from Jemaah Islamiyah have been blamed for plotting several bomb attacks, including a February 2004 blast that ignited a fire aboard a ferry, killing 116 people in Southeast Asia's second-worst terror attack.

It has been the target of a massive US-backed military offensive on Jolo island that started in August and has resulted in the deaths of its top two leaders.

An estimated 300 to 400 Abu Sayyaf gunmen remain at large on Jolo. By Julie S. Alipala and Nash B. Maulana, Inquirer Mindanao with INQUIRER.net and The Associated Press

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/...rticle_id=61572

http://philstar.com/philstar/NEWS200704210406.htm

That's right!

Foot soldiers aren't even enough.

WE NEED TO GIVE THE MILITARY THE CAPABILITY TO LAUNCH PARALYZING ATTACKS AT ANY TIME, DAY OR NIGHT.

We need Multi-role-fighter planes (MRF) that can be launched even at night to vaporize these pigs to hell.

We need to have a formidable air-transport and fire-support that that the foot soldiers can count on.

More attack choppers and more strike planes or bombers.

Better air surveillance as well.

VIDEO UPDATE:

ONGOING ATTACK:

http://www.gmanews.tv/video/5970/AFP-secur...itan-Ag-in-Sulu

AFTER THE ATTACK:

http://www.gmanews.tv/video/5898

A GMA special video coverage recorded the operations of the MARINES aimed at capturing a major camp used by the renegade MNLF commander Malik.

The Marines were successful. What made me frown though is that it took them two days to take it. They had V300 APCs with big guns, mortars, artillery support and even an Air Force OV10 dropped bombs just to soften the enemy's defenses.

What does this mean? The MNLF can hold off our soldiers even with that firepower for 2 days!

What's wrong? The AFP and probably PGMA's advisers do not know what to do here.

THE AFP BADLY NEEDS MORE FIREPOWER TO EFFICIENTLY AND EASILY DEFEAT THE ENEMY. They need better than the usual firepower. Instead of OV-10s, why not modern get the modern Multi-role fighters that can carry deadlier munitions like cluster bombs and guided bombs? Why not buy Super Cobras that can devastate the enemy's defenses and advantages? The Super Cobra can carry 3 times as much rockets as the MD520s? It even has guided bombs that can blast off bunkers and other defenses. It even has rapid-firing canons which can provide the foot soldiers fire cover and even fire suppression?

When will the govt ever learn? The AFP's weakness is what encouraging these rouge elements to hold on and mock our government's authority and resolve. This is one of the reasons why they brave confronting the military.

Flipzi,

Here's a curveball for you.
It's possibly not the ASG that's chiefly responsible for the AFP going blind.
It may be trans-national, interagency opacity that is to blame, as well as the
incompatible objectives and sub-objectives between such agencies.

I've heard the ASG has already been infiltrated, or at least that core members
have been suborned. The powers that be (government side) may be holding back,
hoping these 'assets' will give up the bigger, trans-national villains whom the
ASG consort with... but there is another, more plausible motive.

Consider how organized crime persists within the US, despite all the surveillance
technology and military superiority of the government. Many organized crime
syndicates are allowed to survive in the hope of catching bigger villains, based
on the belief that the infiltrators and the coerced within these syndicates are truly
on the government's side.

Criminal syndicates know how to play this game, giving up just enough to
demonstrate their usefulness, while holding back much to ensure their perpetual
necessity as 'assets'.

The continued existence of the Abu Sayyaf is profitably useful to many agencies,
not merely within the Philippines. These agencies also produce just enough
positive results to demonstrate their usefulness, without destroying the most
visceral raison for their continued, tax-supported existence.


h.

I agree.

Nonetheless, the existence of these rouge elements are doing us more harm than good.

The govt must realize that maintaining spies in crime syndycates is different from that of highly destructve groups like the ASG or MNLF lost commands.

With the crime syndicate, its okay because the danger is confined to the group and that their operations are not being seen or felt by the whole nation and are not being witnessed by the international community.

What's the rationale behind keeping the ASG core alive when the US have better ways of tracking Osama or his network in the Far East?

I'd say, for us and for the bigger realm, killing them all the soonest time possible is the better choice.

You've homed in on the difference, then.

Crime syndicates kill far more people and ruin more lives than terrorists,
but thrive on secrecy. Terrorists do far less actual damage, but multiply
their effect through publicity. The former are easier to 'manage', and
profitably so, for all parties at the table, hence the temptation to internally
debase the ASG into a criminal organization that knows how to deal.

Politicians are familiar with this principle of "addition, not subtraction",
thinking that if you outright kill a terrorist group, after all the difficulty
of cornering them for the kill, you're vulnerable to starting from square one
when other, hitherto undetected groups rise to take center stage.
They may think that, say, a co-opted ASG will drain manpower/support from
any future groups that hew closer to the original hardline of the ASG.
A co-opted ASG is like a periscope into the terrorist underworld.

It is not Osama they're after by compromising the ASG,
but any future Osamas or (at least) ASG wannabes,
because by the time they are the stature of Osama, it's too late.
They want to groom moderates for leadership in enemy hierarchies.

The history of Fatah and Hamas, as well as the difference between
US & Israeli approaches in dealing with them, may be instructive.


Anyway... that is how the fallacy is sustained,
that it is better to keep a cornered snake subdued.
The real failure is to assume that all snakes CAN be co-opted and kept subdued,
tied with the critical failure to recognize the nature of the snake dealt with.
There IS a root cause that sustains terrorism with fresh recruits and materiel.

Political correctness be damned, it is not any social injustice that
feeds the Muslim and pseudo-Muslim terrorism which plagues this country.
It is in large part an ongoing act of foreign aggression by proxy.


h.

AFP enters 'last camp' of MNLF in Sulu
04/25/2007 | 06:48 PM

VIDEO UPDATE

http://www.gmanews.tv/video/6020/AFP-enter...of-MNLF-in-Sulu

:thumb: great insight horge. that was so good.

PHILIPPINES: MISUARI'S DEFEAT 'SETBACK FOR PEACE' IN SULU


http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English....416502473&par=0

Zamboanga City, 21 May (AKI) - The defeat of the leader of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MNLF) Nur Misuari in the Sulu archipelago's gubernatorial race could be a setback for peace, a local expert told AdnKronos International (AKI). "If Misuari had won, we could have hoped for a respite in terms of peace and order in Sulu," Octavio Dinampo, a university professor and an expert on the Sulu conflict, told AKI on Monday. "Misuari still has a strong say among his men," added Dinampo who was also an independent observer at the May mid-term elections,.

Dinampo’s comment come as the provincial electoral commission, Comelec, proclaimed the former governor Abdulsakur Tan as the winner of 14 May elections in Sulu, the archipelago that extends from the southernmost tip of the Philippines until the Indonesia-Malaysia’s shared island of Borneo

The Muslim rebel leader finished third in a three-cornered contest with the incumbent Benjamin Loong ranking second.

“The canvassing is not yet over, but Tan has an overwhelmingly lead,” Dinampo said.

The election was held as tension is extremely high in Sulu with the army pursuing a MNLF splinter group led by commander Ustadz Habier Malik, a former aid of Misuari. The military blames Malik for an attack against a military post in Sulu, which killed three marines, as well as 17 MNLF members, a few weeks back. Manila has offered some 1 million pesos ($20,000) bounty for Malik’s capture.

Dinampo, who is also a member of the civil society Concerned Citizen of Sulu (CCS), said that “Misuari could have been the right person to mediate the on-going conflict.”

Meanwhile, the MNLF has not accepted the election result.

In an interview with Filipino newspaper, the Philippine Daily Inquirer, senior MNLF member Habib Zain Jali reported widespread cheating and called for Comelec to void the elections result.

Dinampo added that many of Misuari’s supporters were unable to vote because they are still in the evacuation centers.

According to CCS data, more than 50 thousands people are still in refugee camps, due to the fighting between the army and the MNLF and the army and the Abu Sayyaf Group, a local terrorist group sprouted out of the MNLF in the early 1990s.

Sulu has 251,218 registered voters but, Dinampo said, only few voted. According to Comelec, the turnout was 65 to 80 percent nationwide.

Misuari is currently under house arrest in an exclusive suburb in Manila. He was charged with rebellion when he allegedly ordered MNLF fighters to attack government targets in Sulu and Zamboanga City in 2001. The incidents killed nearly 100 people.

He was allowed to run for governor and was given temporary freedom to register and cast his vote in Sulu. This is the second failed attempt by Misuari to run the governorship of Sulu.

MNLF, which has been fighting for an independent Islamic state in the southern Philippines since the late 1960s, signed a peace accord with Manila in 1996 and accepted a limited autonomy in the Muslim-dominated Mindanao. In the same year, Misuari was elected as governor of the newly-formed Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

More than 45 million Filipinos were called to elect half of the 24 seats in the Senate, the 275 members of the House of Representatives and more than 17,000 administrative officials both at national and local level on 14 May.

RP rejects OIC request to return rebel camps

The Philippine government has rejected an Organization of Islamic Conference request to hand back two captured training camps to Muslim rebels, an official said Tuesday.

Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Rafael Seguis said the request was made by Egyptian diplomat Sayyed Kassen El-Masry during the 34th OIC foreign ministers' conference in Islamabad recently.

The camps, occupied by forces of Habier Malik, a commander of the Muslim Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in the southern island of Jolo, were captured by military forces in April after Malik's forces shelled a Marine base, killing three people.

The fighting marred a truce in place between the government and the MNLF as part of a peace accord signed in 1996, ending a decades-old separatist campaign in return for limited Muslim self-rule.

Seguis told reporters that the Egyptian diplomat's suggestion was dismissed, adding that April's military operation did not breach the peace accord since only Malik and his supporters had taken up arms against the government.

"This is a law enforcement matter," Seguis said.

"Malik is a fugitive from justice. He attacked a military camp. Right now, the military is in the process of developing the (captured) camps," Seguis added.

The 57-nation OIC still recognizes the MNLF as the sole representative of the Philippines' Muslim minority.

The OIC is also monitoring the government's peace negotiations with another Muslim faction, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). Agence France Presse

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=79704

200 MNLF members in convoy held for questioning
Philstar.com
Philstar.com - Friday, March 6

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines -- Military and police forces held more than 200 members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) who were found travelling onboard a convoy of trucks here, a military official said today.

Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) spokesman 1Lt. Steffani Cacho said the MNLF members, identified as belonging to the Nur Misuari faction, were initially flagged down 6 p.m. yesterday at a checkpoint in Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay province.

She said the unarmed MNLF members were ordered to proceed to Westmincom headquarters here. They, however, were flagged down again at another checkpoint by police forces at 11 p.m. in Barangay Divisoria, some 10 kilometers from the military headquarters.

The police were reportedly alarmed by the large number of the group.

Cacho said the MNLF members were held for questioning regarding their destination. In response, the group claimed it was headed to Davao City for the MNLF peace assembly with Misuari.

Police and military forces have been on high alert in this southern port city following threats from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Last week, around 50 families were forced to evacuate after a faction of the MILF attacked a military detachment. But the insurgents were repelled in the uphill village of Curuan. - By Roel Pareño (Philstar News Service, www.philstar.com)

http://ph.news.yahoo.com/star/20090306/tph...io-541dfb4.html

Filipino troops to remove gunmen on tourist island
AP
AP - Wednesday, August 19

Philippine troops threatened to use force Tuesday to dislodge about 30 Muslim rebels who occupied two small islets next to the popular southwestern beach resort of Palawan, officials said.

The gunmen occupied a mosque and took over the islets of Montangule and Bangkalan on Saturday, leading residents to complain about extortion and insecurity, said military spokesman Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner.

He said the gunmen told authorities Tuesday they were willing to surrender, and negotiations were ongoing with the local government. The gunmen did not list any demands.

"We will not allow lawless elements to sow panic and cause havoc to helpless civilians," said navy spokesman Col. Edgardo Arevalo.

Palawan province, famous for white-sand beaches and pristine forests, caves and waterfalls, has been largely isolated from a decades-long Muslim rebellion that has ravaged the main southern region of Mindanao and nearby Basilan and Jolo islands.

Brawner said it was not clear if the rebels were members of the Moro National Liberation Front as they claim to be. The Muslim separatist group signed a peace deal with the government in 1996 in exchange for an autonomous region that did not include Palawan.

Many of its members have refused to disarm, adding to insecurity in a region where two other Muslim rebel groups operate _ the larger Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which has continued to fight for Muslim self-rule, and the Abu Sayyaf, a smaller, more violent al-Qaida-linked group.

Most of the diving and beach resorts are located in northern Palawan, while the south is largely infested with malaria-carrying mosquitoes.

In May 2001, Abu Sayyaf militants raided the Dos Palmas resort in central Palawan and kidnapped three Americans and 17 other tourists.

One of the Americans was beheaded and another was killed during a military rescue the following year.

http://ph.news.yahoo.com/ap/20090818/tap-a...ld-fe2a5de.html

With this small force of gunmen the AFP and PNP should kick their assess now before this grows into something they couldn't handle.

Saturday pa yan and today is Wednesday. The AFP should not let this drag on until the next Saturday.