Jihadi threat looms over Philippine peace hopes
By Fabio Scarpello
MANILA - Peace remains an elusive target on the southern Philippine island of
Mindanao, where violence is an everyday occurrence and the line between
revolutionary movement and jihadi terrorism hard to discern.
A central government delegation and a team from the moderate Moro Islamic
Liberation Front (MILF) are soon to meet in Malaysia to talk peace in the
seventh exploratory meeting since formal peace talks were halted after former
president Joseph Estrada's all-out war in 2000.
The latest round of talks is based on a fragile truce signed on July 19, 2003,
between the government and the MILF, which is fighting
for an Islamic homeland in the impoverished southern part of the Philippine
archipelago.
A 12,000-strong group, the MILF is the biggest of several Islamist groups on
Mindanao and the Sulu archipelago - the only areas left where the country's 4
million Muslims are still in a majority.
Once inhabited exclusively by Muslims and animists, Mindanao - the country's
second-largest island - is today home to mostly Catholics as a consequence of a
government-sponsored migration from the northern islands of Luzon and Visayas.
While the talks would provide a glimmer of hope for peace, the region is
characterized by a blurring between revolutionary groups and terrorist
organizations and saw unabated violence throughout 2005.
Although the MILF is dominant, a crucial role is played by the small but
radical Abu Sayyaf Group that is linked to the international al-Qaeda network
and the Southeast Asian jihadi group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI).
Abu Sayyaf was formed from a militant wing ot the Moro National Liberation
Front in 1991. The MNLF was the first Islamic group to take up arms in Mindanao
in the late 1960s. The simmering communal conflicts erupted into full civil war
after then-dictator Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law in September 1972.
After four years of struggle, the MNLF dropped its claim to independence and
accepted a form of autonomy with the Tripoli Agreement, signed on December 23,
1976.
"Abu Sayyaf is the most dangerous of the revolutionary groups present in the
country," Philippine National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales has been
quoted as saying.
"Compared to MILF and the New People Army [communist rebels], Abu Sayyaf is the
most dangerous because these terrorists even volunteer to conduct attacks to
get the recognition of international terrorist groups, including al-Qaeda."
The Tripoli Agreement, as well as the others that followed up to the 1996
Jakarta Agreement, were never properly implemented. The local population's
disappointment has fueled resentment and led to the mushrooming of more
pro-independence Islamic groups.
Unlike the MILF, Abu Sayyaf has never been open to dialogue. After a lull, the
latter group has staged a comeback, carving for itself a role as a nexus for
disgruntled members of revolutionary groups and the terrorists that have found
sanctuary in the forests of the island.
"Abu Sayyaf has emerged as a serious security threat to the Philippines, and
arguably the regional security. They have forged closer relations with
hardliner MILF elements and have proved to be a reliable partner for JI," wrote
security expert Zachary Abuza in his report "Balik Terrorism: The Return of the
Abu Sayyaf", released in September.
During the past 12 months, Abu Sayyaf has been at the core of most of the
violence that has rocked the country, including the Valentine's Day attacks
when three nearly simultaneous bombs exploded in Manila, General Santos City
and Davao, killing 13 and injuring 140 others.
In these attacks, Abu Sayyaf was clearly helped by JI, the organization deemed
responsible for the worst bombings of the past few years, including the one on
the Indonesian island of Bali in which 202 people died on October 12, 2002.
The United States, which provides military and other aid to the Philippines,
has been demanding that Manila do more to prevent Mindanao from serving as a
sanctuary for foreign jihadi militants, especially some believed to be
responsible for the Bali bombings.
Abu Sayyaf was also said to be behind the August 10 and August 29 bombings in
Zamboanga City and Basilan respectively, in which more than 50 people were
injured. The group has also carried out dozens of small-scale attacks against
military and police posts in the region.
The deadly mix of JI and Abu Sayyaf has lately been enriched by yet another
explosive ingredient - the Rajah Solaiman Movement (RSM), a radical wing of the
Filipino Balik Islam, as those who have abandoned Catholicism to "return" to
Islam are known.
"The [Abu Sayyaf] and JI are working increasingly with the RSM, militant
converts to Islam based in Manila and northern Luzon, who are a vehicle for
more experienced terrorist groups to move into the country's urban heartland,"
reported the well-respected think-tank International Crisis Group in its
December report "Philippines Terrorism: The Role of Militant Islamic Converts".
The intertwining of various groups was also highlighted when Abu Sayyaf
happened to be at the receiving end of operations undertaken by the Philippine
armed forces.
Over the past 12 months, Manila launched two massive and sustained attacks in
and around the Sulu archipelago, south of Mindanao. In the hostilities,
renegade members of the MNLF fought alongside Abu Sayyaf.
Local reports claimed that at least 120 rebels and 27 soldiers died in weeks of
fighting when 4,000 government troops took on 800 Abu Sayyaf-MNLF rebels at
Jolo in February. Fewer casualties - four soldiers and 22 rebels dead - were
reported in a second offensive, launched in November.
Although the MILF has not been involved in the main battles, the organization
can hardly be considered monolithic or fully under the control of its leader,
Al-Haj Murad.
On January 6, 2005, for example, when a faction attacked an army post outside
Cotonato city, killing 23 soldiers, the MILF was quick to denounce it and
declare the wing as a "lost command".
The fragile truce survived and representatives of the MILF and the government
made the trip to Kuala Lumpur in April and September. At the end of both
meetings, the two parties claimed significant progress, although they failed to
sign a new peace deal as hoped.
In between talks, the MILF showed goodwill by withdrawing 500 fighters from
Talayan and Guin-dolongan areas, to facilitate a military offensive against Abu
Sayyaf in July.
Nonetheless, many in Washington and Manila are convinced that the group plays
two cards at the same time - talking peace with the government but harboring in
its territory Abu Sayyaf and JI, as confirmed by Abuza. "Considerable evidence
suggests that the MILF continues to coddle JI and [Abu Sayyaf] members," he
said.
