Washington reaches to Muslim
rebels By Romer S Sarmiento
MINDANAO, Philippines - United States
ambassador to the Philippines Kristie Kenney has
crossed the line between her government and the
Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the
country's largest armed Muslim rebel group which
Washington had earlier considered including on its
list of foreign terrorist groups along with the
alleged al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group.
Uniformed Moro rebels toting M-16 rifles
and rocket-propelled grenade launchers welcomed
Kenney and several high-ranking American officials
on February 19 to an unannounced visit to the
rebel group's main Darapanan camp in Mindanao's
Shariff Kabunsuan province.
Kenney
attended a closed-door meeting with MILF chieftain
Al Haj
Murad
Ebrahim and other senior rebel members, which the
US official later characterized as "a private
visit". Although Washington had previously sent
government representatives to meet with MILF
rebels, Kenney was the first US ambassador to meet
the rebels for face-to-face talks.
The US
envoy left hastily after the meeting, after which
she refused to speak with the media. The US
Embassy in Manila has not yet issued any formal
press statements about the meeting with Murad. The
meeting was notably held the day after some 6,000
US and Philippine troops commenced their annual
joint Balikatan military exercises in
Muslim-dominated areas in the southern
Philippines.
There are currently an
estimated 600 US soldiers deployed in the island's
western and central areas of Mindanao, who legally
are strictly forbidden to engage in combat against
the Abu Sayyaf and officially have only provided
technical assistance and intelligence using
unmanned spy planes and eavesdropping equipment to
their Filipino counterparts. The
military-to-military cooperation is part of the
US's global "war on terrorism" campaign and
Filipino forces have largely neutralized the Abu
Sayyaf after receiving US assistance beginning in
2003.
Talks between the MILF and
government, meanwhile, have stalled since
September 2006 due to disagreements over the size
of the proposed autonomous territory, known as the
Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE) to be managed by
the MILF in a final peace deal. Manila had earlier
proposed that 613 villages be included in the BJE,
while the MILF has pushed for the inclusion of
about 1,200 villages.
MILF spokesperson
Eid Kabalu told Asia Times Online that the
government's position is "softening" with certain
previously contested areas now agreed to be
included automatically in the BJE, while others
will under the latest proposal be subjected to a
plebiscite after a transition period. He said the
MILF is still studying the government offer to end
the decades-old conflict.
In mid-2007,
fierce clashes erupted in the province of Basilan
between government security forces and MILF rebels
operating in overlapping territories with the Abu
Sayyaf. One clash left 14 marines dead, 10 of whom
were allegedly beheaded by Abu Sayyaf bandits.
MILF rebels admitted involvement in the fighting,
saying they acted out of self-defense, but denied
any role in the beheadings or having links with
the Abu Sayyaf.
Fears then were that the
ceasefire would collapse and the US might provide
assistance in renewed government hostilities with
the MILF. Now hopes are that Kenney's visit will
forestall more hostilities and possibly lead to
the US playing a larger mediation role in the
touch-and-go peace process, which started in
mid-2003 after the US State Department asked the
non-governmental organization (NGO) the United
States Institute of Peace (USIP) to help end the
decades-old conflict between Manila and the MILF.
Other international organizations,
including the Switzerland-based Humanitarian
Dialogue are also known to be involved in
mediation efforts. The USIP initiative established
the so-called Philippine Facilitation Project,
which beginning in November 2005 entailed level
meetings between MILF and US Embassy officials.
Those meetings reached their highest level earlier
this month when Kenney visited MILF leader Murad.
Until now, Malaysia has officially served
as third-party mediator, along with Brunei, Libya,
Japan and Canada, which have all sent
representatives as part of an international
monitoring team (IMT). So far Malaysia has failed
to achieve peace, as the MILF has continuously
blamed the government of neglecting previous
points of consensus.
Gracious rebel
Murad told reporters after the
meeting that Kenney inquired about the status of
the MILF-government peace process, which currently
is in abeyance and no date has been set for the
next round of talks, which until now have been
held in Malaysia. The two sides have so far agreed
on security, rehabilitation and development
aspects, but remain at odds over issues related to
establishing a Moro ancestral area.
"The
US envoy expressed high hope that the talks will
succeed," media reports quoted Murad as saying,
noting that Kenney's visit was a "good gesture
sure to help restart the stalled peace
negotiations. We welcome her efforts to reach us
in the name of peace".
Kenney reportedly
reiterated during her meeting with Murad a pledge
from US President George W Bush to provide tens of
millions of dollars for development projects in
Mindanao once Manila and the MILF strike a final
peace deal. Officials from the United States
Agency for International Development (USAID),
which last year extended its Growth with Equity
program in Mindanao for another five years to the
tune of US$145 million, were also in attendance at
the meeting.
As recently as 2003, the US
was contemplating whether or not to officially
label the MILF as a foreign terrorist
organization, due to the group's alleged links
with Abu Sayyaf, a rebel group Washington has
accused of having ties with al-Qaeda. MILF's
founding chairman Salamat Hashim had earlier that
same year sought the intervention of the US in the
peace process around the time government forces
attacked his group's headquarters.
The
attack led to the breakdown of a previous
ceasefire and sabotaged a looming resumption of
talks at the time. The MILF retaliated by
attacking military detachments in some parts of
the region and a series of mysterious bomb
explosions later hit many areas of Mindanao,
killing several people and destroying electricity
infrastructure. Government authorities blamed the
destruction on the MILF, which strongly denied the
allegations.
Before his death in 2003,
Salamat penned a personal letter to Bush denying
MILF responsibility for the bomb attacks and of
having any links to foreign terrorist
organizations. He also welcomed US involvement in
the Mindanao peace process. After a number of
violent clashes, Manila and the MILF agreed to
another ceasefire later in 2003, which apart from
occasional skirmishes has mostly held. The US, at
the request of the Philippine government, in the
end decided against including the MILF on its list
of foreign terrorist organizations - though
Washington did include the extremist Abu Sayyaf
and communist New People's Army on its blacklist.
Eugene Martin, executive director of the
Philippine Facilitation Project run by the
government-affiliated USIP, notes in a research
paper that despite various threats emanating from
al-Qaeda in the Philippines - including alleged
plots uncovered in the mid-1990s to assassinate
Pope John Paul II, then-US president Bill Clinton
and attacks on international airliners - it was
only after the September 11, 2001, terror attacks
that Washington's perceptions of the conflict in
Mindanao changed.
The return of
Filipino-Muslim fighters from Afghanistan in the
early 1990s sparked US concerns that the southern
Philippines could become a new sanctuary for
Islamic extremists and al-Qaeda operatives,
according to Martin. He wrote that the MILF
welcomed the weapons, explosives and tactical
training Afghan veterans provided to their
movement, enhancing its capacity to withstand army
attacks and launch new offensives.
At the
same time, the US has through embassy
pronouncements in Manila and USAID-funded programs
in the country expressed a willingness to support
both politically and financially the peace
negotiations between Manila and the MILF,
predicated on the promise the MILF severs any ties
with groups Washington has identified as terrorist
organizations, including the Abu Sayyaf. Martin
also acknowledges that the Moro people of Mindanao
have "serious, legitimate grievances that must be
addressed".
Ever since Murad succeeded
Salamat as MILF leader in mid-2003, he has stood
firm behind his predecessor's claim that the MILF
does not support terrorism and that their rebel
cause is confined to the creation of an
independent Muslim state for the Moro people in
Mindanao. Murad was previously the MILF's peace
panel chairman and chief of the rebel group's
military command.
Under his leadership,
the MILF have not publicly opposed the
US-Philippine joint military exercises now
underway in various parts of Mindanao and slated
to end on March 3. On the other hand, Moro-led
NGOs in the area have strongly criticized the
exercises, gathering thousands of protestors in
Muslim-dominated Marawi City in advance of their
February 18 start date.
Following the
American envoy's February 19 visit, Murad neither
confirmed nor denied whether the exercises were
part of their discussions - although other rebel
officials said that Kenney asked the MILF's
central committee to support the annual joint
military exercises. What the MILF might receive in
return for that support is unclear, but hints to
some at the possible contours of a larger deal
where Washington helps to foster peace rather than
stoke conflict in Mindanao.
Romer S
Sarmiento is a Mindanao-based journalist
and a correspondent for BusinessWorld, a
Philippines-based daily business newspaper. He
also reports for a string of Mindanao-based news
outfits.
(Copyright 2008 Asia Times
Online Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact us
about sales, syndication and republishing .)
Head
Office: Unit B, 16/F, Li Dong Building, No. 9 Li Yuen Street East,
Central, Hong Kong Thailand Bureau:
11/13 Petchkasem Road,
Hua Hin, Prachuab Kirikhan, Thailand 77110
