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Caribbean-Latin America

More Mexican Mayhem

2011-03-10

16 Die in Northern Mexico Sixteen individuals were murdered in drug and gang violence in northern Mexican states, including the shooting death of three city employees of Guadalupe, Chihuahua. For a map, click here An unidentified man was shot to death Tuesday in Juarez. The victim was pursued by armed suspects near the intersection of calles Cetufa and Anis in the Ampliacion Aeropuerto colony when he was shot numerous times with an AR-15 assault rifle. An auto repair shop was torched in what reports suggest was related to extortion. The building near the corner of calles Ciruela and Henequen in the El Granjero colony was adjacent to a church. No one was reported hurt in the arson. Reports also say that several establishments have been victims of extortion by organized crime in the colony. Three men were shot to death and a fourth was wounded in a shooting in Chihuahua, Chihuahua Tuesday night. Ricardo and Cesar Alquizo, 30 and 22, and Raul Gonzalez Portillo, 23, died at the scene on calle Rio Rhin while the fourth unidentified man escaped the area. Three men were shot to death and two others was wounded in two separate incidents in Parral, Chihuahua Tuesday night. One unidentfied man were shot to death and another was wounded in a Mitsubishi sedan in front of a taco stand at about 1820 hrs. The victims were near the corner of the Durango road and Calle del Libramiento in the Prolongación Independencia colony when a scuffle broke out and shots were fired. Several AK-47 and 9mm spent cartridge casings were found at the scene. Inside the sedan was found a .40 caliber automatic pistol with eight rounds, suggesting it was an intergang dispute. Two men were shot to death aboard a Volkswagen Jetta near a Walmart store. Antonio Martinez Solís Dan, 26, and Gerardo Rojas Miguel Rios were shot by armed suspects aboard at least two vehicles. The victims returned fire, but were overcome by assault rifle fire. An abandoned Toyota Camry sedan was found nearby with damage from gunfire. Several AK-47 assault rifle and .38 Super spent cartridge casings were found at both scenes. Reports suggest this shooting was also gang related. Three Guadalupe, Chihuahua city employees were shot to death Wednesday. Rodolfo Ramirez, 40, Gabriel Escobar and Manuela Lara Rodriguez were part of the city sanitation department, and were working in a park on Calle Chihuahua when armed suspects shot and killed them. An unidentified man was found dead in Hermosillo, Sonora Tuesday. The victim was found near the intersection of calles Delicias and Paseo Florido in the Las Quintas Nueva Galicia colony. Two unidentified men were found dead on a highway near Hermosillo, Sonora Tuesday. The victims were found on Highway 26 hands bound with tape, and partially decomposed. An unidentified man was found beaten to death in Tijuana, Baja California. The victim was found on Calle 16th in the El Pipila in the La Presa delegation. An elderly man was found strangled to death in his residence in Mexicali, Baja California. Rodolfo Garcia Orozco, 83, was found in his residence's bathroom on Calle Numancia in the Villas del Rey colony by family members. Reports suggest the murder was in connection to a home invasion. An unidentified Baja California Policía Estatal Preventiva agent shot and killed a suspected robber Tuesday night in Tijuana, Baja California. The unidentified officer apparently intervened in an armed robbery of a taco stand on Avenida Acueducto in the Sanchez Taboada delegation, and shot one of three robbers, after the gang fired on him.

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Southeast Asia

Philippine gov't claims breakthrough in peace talks with MILF

2008-07-28

(Xinhua) -- The Philippine government said Sunday evening breakthrough has been made in peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on ancestral domain, one day after the MILF said the talks broke down due to renewed disputes over the issue. Presidential peace process adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. told local TV network GMA News that the "breakthrough" was achieved Sunday evening and it would pave the way for the signing of a framework agreement on the ancestral domain next month. "With this positive development in the negotiations, the signing of the framework on ancestral domain is tentatively set early August this year," Esperon was quoted as saying. The two sides signed a joint communique during their meeting in Kuala Lumpur Sunday evening, with government negotiation panel chairmen Rodolfo Garcia and MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal giving their respective signatures. The MILF said Saturday that the peace talks with the government held on July 24 to 25 broke down because the government side attempted to make changes on the agreed upon issues on ancestral domain, which is referred to most of the Muslim areas in Mindanao.

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Southeast Asia

Philippines reaches deal with MILF

2007-11-16

The Philippine government reached an agreement Thursday with the main Islamic separatist group there on carving out boundaries for a Muslim homeland in the south. For years, Philippine officials have held glacially paced talks with the separatist group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, about the extent of a territory that would fall under Muslim control in Mindanao, an impoverished region that has been the scene of an insurrection for decades. In recent years the talks have focused on the control Muslims would wield over natural resources in Mindanao's mineral-rich but economically backward areas. The Philippine and U.S. governments hope an agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front could transform its vast rural strongholds in Mindanao into hubs of economic growth instead of conflict zones that could harbor terrorists. Military officials have often accused the front of giving sanctuary to members of two terrorist groups, the Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah, but the front has denied any links. "Demarcation has been agreed," Rodolfo Garcia, the chief Philippine government negotiator, told reporters at the end of two days of talks with Moro Islamic Liberation Front officials in Kuala Lumpur. "It is one significant breakthrough we have achieved here." The two sides still have to craft the exact text of the agreement next month and sign the deal, most likely in January, Garcia said. Othman Abdul Razak, the top Malaysian government facilitator, said Wednesday that another round of exploratory talks was likely in mid-December before a possible resumption of full-fledged negotiations early next year. Demarcation of land has been the biggest hurdle in efforts to forge a peace treaty that would replace a fragile 2003 cease-fire between the Philippine authorities and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in Mindanao. The Philippines is primarily a Roman Catholic nation, and its Muslims are concentrated in Mindanao. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which the military says has 11,000 fighters, is the largest group battling for self-rule there.

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Southeast Asia

Philippines postpones talks with Muslim rebels in Kuala Lumpur

2007-08-21

Manila - The Philippine government has postponed the scheduled resumption of peace talks with Muslim secessionist rebels in Malaysia due to its failure to decide on how to move forward in the negotiations, a guerrilla spokesman said Tuesday. Negotiators for the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) were set to depart for Kuala Lumpur on Monday when a Malaysian official informed them that the two-day talks scheduled to start on Wednesday will not push through. 'We were already in Manila and we were all set to go to Kuala Lumpur...but at the last hour the government has asked for a postponement,' said Mohaqher Iqbal, chief MILF peace negotiator. Iqbal said Rodolfo Garcia, head of the government peace panel, told the Malaysian facilitator that he (Garcia) 'has not been given clear guidelines on how to proceed with the peace process.' Peace talks between the MILF and the government have been stalled since September last year after the two sides failed to agree on the scope of a proposed Muslim homeland in the southern region of Mindanao. Garcia, who was appointed chief government negotiator only in June, said he asked for the postponement of the resumption of the talks because he still has to clarify details about the government's positions on issues to be discussed in the talks. 'I asked for it (postponement) because I need more time to clarify some things, concretize stands to have the definite negotiating positions to present to them in the next rounds of talks,' he said. Garcia said that despite the postponement, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo remained upbeat about the peace talks - a priority in her programmes to achieve lasting solution to the decades-old Muslim insurgency in Mindanao. 'It is not right to say that the president is lacking political will, she is determined to solve the problem in Mindanao,' he said. Garcia said the ongoing military offensives against Islamic militants in the southern province of Basilan and nearby Jolo island were not a factor in the postponement of the talks. The operations in Basilan and Jolo were triggered by the killing of 14 marines, 10 of whom were beheaded or mutilated, during a firefight with MILF forces in the town of Albarka on July 10. The MILF admitted to killing the marines, whom they accused of violating a 2003 ceasefire agreement, but denied beheading or mutilating them. An inquiry later blamed al-Qaeda-linked Muslim Abu Sayyaf rebels for the crime.

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Southeast Asia

Philippines suspends peace talks with Muslim rebels

2007-08-21

The Philippine government said Tuesday it had suspended peace talks with Muslim insurgents, saying it needed more time, and insisting the move was not linked to a military operation in the restive south. The talks between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which has been waging an insurgency for decades in the southern Philippines, had been due to resume in Malaysia Wednesday. "I need more time to clarify some things," said government negotiator Rodolfo Garcia, who requested the delay. He expressed hope that the talks could resume by the second week of September, after the government had "finalized its negotiating position." Garcia said his request had nothing to do with the current military offensive against Muslim extremists in the south of the country, which was launched in response to the killing of 14 marines in an ambush last month. MILF negotiator Mohagher Iqbal said Tuesday that his group was ready for the talks, but had been told by the Malaysian facilitator that Garcia had "not been given clear guidelines on how to proceed with the peace process." "That means we cannot resume the talks, because the government is not prepared to concede anything," Iqbal told ABS-CBN television in an interview, claiming that Manila had put off the talks, once before, in May.

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Southeast Asia

Rajah Solaiman folds into Abu Sayyaf, Abu Sayyaf folds into JI

2005-08-23

A lethal mix of militant groups is emerging in the southern Philippines, a senior police intelligence official said, warning of attacks as foreign and local jihadists share resources, talents and capabilities. The intelligence official, who declined to be identified, said foreign Islamic militants, mostly Indonesians, were building alliances with several homegrown Muslim rebels to survive government offensives on the southern island of Mindanao. Since July, Philippine troops backed by U.S. aerial surveillance vehicles have been combing coastal and mountain villages in Maguindanao province for about 30 rebels from the al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group, who are thought to be operating with a handful of Indonesian militants. "These militants are now crossing organisational lines to exchange and share manpower, expertise and resources," the intelligence official told Reuters late on Sunday. "If governments in the region are cooperating to eliminate these threats, we are now seeing that terrorists are also sharing their 'best practices' to fight back". A senior U.S. diplomat in Manila drew an angry reaction from government leaders earlier this year when he said Mindanao risked turning into "an Afghanistan situation". The Philippine official said there were intelligence reports that Rajah Solaiman Revolutionary Movement, a group of radical Muslim converts, had merged with the Abu Sayyaf group led by Khaddafy Janjalani. This, he said, had increased the threat of attacks in Manila because most of the converts were based around the capital. Janjalani, long the subject of manhunt operations on Mindanao, is also thought to have developed close links with Indonesian militants belonging to different jihadist groups, including Jemaah Islamiah (JI). A classified security report shown to Reuters said JI instructors had taught about 60 of Janjalani's followers how to handle crude bombs fashioned out of unexploded mortar rounds. Philippine officials said foreign militants were forced to seek out other Muslim groups in Mindanao because the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the country's largest Muslim rebel group, which is in talks with the government, started pushing them to leave. But they said rogue MILF elements continued to protect the foreign militants, allowing them to hide in a marshy area in Maguindanao province. "We always believed the leadership of MILF is determined to cut its ties with these militants," said Rodolfo Garcia, a member of the government's peace panel negotiating with the MILF.

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Southeast Asia

MILF warns the US to say out of their area

2004-07-06

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on Tuesday warned the United States forces who would be participating in a small-scale Philippines-US war games in Central Mindanao not to touch the group to prevent skirmishes. MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu told Today in a telephone interview that the Front has no plan to disrupt this month’s joint RP-US military exercises to train Filipino soldiers against terrorists belonging to the al-Qaeda linked Jema’ah Islamiyah. “If they [US forces] will not enter our [perimeter], we assure them that there would be no skirmish. We have a directive to our troops in the area to remain in a defensive position while the training is going on,” he pointed out. Carmen is a known bailiwick of the Moro rebels. “The Philippine government and [our group] have an existing cease-fire agreement. We hope that the participants in the military exercises will observe the agreement,” Kabalu stressed. Defense Secretary Eduardo Ermita said the military exercise, involving 20 US Special Forces from Okinawa, Japan, and 160 Filipino soldiers, will be held in Carmen town in North Cotabato province starting July 26 and will last for three weeks. North Cotabato Gov. Emmanuel Piñol, a known critic of the rebel group, has given assurance that the exercises will not target members of the MILF in the area. Kabalu said the Moro rebels has about a thousand fighters operating in Carmen alone. “We push and support the holding of a small-scale Balikatan there [Carmen] because it will be a great help to our soldiers,” Piñol said. At the same time, outgoing Armed Forces vice chief of staff Lt. Gen. Rodolfo Garcia expressed confidence that the conduct of the RP-US joint military exercise in Carmen town will not affect the scheduled resumption of peace negotiations between the government and the separatist MILF. Garcia issued the statement even as he said that US troops participating in the military exercises will be confined only to the 200-hectare training site in the town. The site houses the camp of the Army’s 602nd Brigade. “Going outside of that training site will be a violation of the terms of reference [for the Americans],” Garcia said. Garcia, who is scheduled to retire today as he reaches the mandatory retirement age of 56, is the head of the government’s Coordinating Committee in the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH). He said he will continue to be involved in the peace process with the rebels even after his retirement. Garcia said the training will not involve actual operations. “It can be a classroom-oriented type of exercise only,” he said. “It’s only a special operations exercises. Part of that will be life-saving exercise, communications training, medical exercise, particularly treating the wounded so that they will not die before they reach the hospital.” Garcia added. Besides Carmen, American soldiers will also carry out exercises this year in military camps in Zamboanga City.

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Southeast Asia

MILF sez they’re gonna go after foreign militants. Really.

2004-07-03

Philippine security forces and Muslim rebels agreed on Saturday to "isolate and interdict" Jemaah Islamiah militants and other outlaws hiding in southern Philippines, officials and a rebel spokesman said. The two sides will work together to root out foreign militants and kidnapping syndicates hiding in communities controlled by Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Mindanao, said Lieutenant General Rodolfo Garcia, the military’s vice chief of staff. "This arrangement is very important to move the peace process forward," Garcia told Reuters. "The activities of these lawless groups and terrorists can impede the peace talks." Garcia said the agreement would be approved when representatives of the two sides meet later this month in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur for formal peace talks. The military said it expected MILF rebels to monitor movements and activities of foreign militants and kidnap gangs and help the government arrest them. MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu said the arrangement was temporary and needed approval by the peace panels of both sides. Defence Secretary Eduardo Ermita has said an estimated 30 to 40 militants from Jemaah Islamiah, a Southeast Asian group linked to al Qaeda, are hiding in the southern island of Mindanao.

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Iraq-Jordan

Allies Consider U.S. Request for Troops

2004-05-15

The United States is quietly pressing its allies to send more troops to Iraq, but it's getting a lukewarm response amid escalating violence and public outcry over the abuse of Iraqi prisoners. Washington asked Albania to increase the size of its 71-soldier non-combat unit patrolling the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, and the Albanian government is receptive, Defense Ministry spokesman Igli Hasani confirmed Friday. "Albania is ready to respond to such a request" and had already offered additional troops, Hasani said. He said the mostly Muslim country, a staunch U.S. ally, may boost its contingent to 200 soldiers if parliament approves. Denmark will extend the mission of its 496 troops in southern Iraq by six months, and Norway will maintain a small military presence after it pulls out its main contingent next month. The Philippines is sending 45 more soldiers and police to strengthen its humanitarian effort, restoring the total to its original 100. "Our government has made a very categorical statement on this matter - that we stand pat on our commitment to the coalition," said Lt. Gen. Rodolfo Garcia, the Philippines vice chief of staff. Most other allies appear far more cautious, given worries over mounting coalition casualties and disgust over the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by some U.S. troops. Even Britain, the United States' chief ally with 7,500 soldiers, has said only that it is keeping its troop levels under constant review. And Poland, which has 2,400 troops and commands a multinational force in south-central Iraq, says its soldiers will stay "as long as needed and not a day longer." Thailand's Defense Ministry spokesman, Maj. Gen. Palangun Klaharn, said the United States has not yet requested more troops, and that its 443 troops are expected to wrap up their mission in Iraq in September. The Dutch are considering whether to extend the stay of their 1,300 soldiers beyond June 30, when an Iraqi administration is due to take power, but there is no talk of sending more troops. Although the conservative government in the Netherlands had leaned toward an extension, one party in the ruling coalition has broken ranks, saying it will support keeping soldiers in Iraq only if there is broader United Nations involvement and a greater handover of power to the Iraqis. Japan has agreed to replace 500 non-combat troops on a humanitarian mission in southern Iraq. But it has no plans to send additional forces; opposition at home has grown because of the escalating violence and the kidnappings of five Japanese citizens by insurgents. The five were released unharmed. The Czech Republic, which has 120 military police officers in Iraq, has no plans to send more personnel or extend the mission, Defense Ministry spokesman Vladimir Sticha said Friday. Nor does Slovakia, which has 105 soldiers in Iraq, or Bulgaria, whose infantry battalion of 454 soldiers has come under heavy fire in recent weeks. Hungary is prepared to keep its 300-member transportation contingent in Iraq through year's end - its current parliamentary mandate. But as attacks on coalition forces increase, so have calls from opposition politicians to bring the troops home. Hungary's leading opposition group, the Fidesz-Hungarian Civic Party, is pressing the government to recall its troops unless the United Nations takes over responsibility in Iraq by June 30. Recent polls show that eight in 10 Hungarians oppose keeping the troops in Iraq. But the leadership won't budge, government spokesman J. Zoltan Gal said. "This is not a government which adjusts its policies based on the result of opinion polls," he said. For that, thank you.

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Southeast Asia

Filippino government, MILF row over JI suspects

2004-04-27

President Arroyo on Monday ordered Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Deles and the panel negotiating with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to present to the rebel leaders evidence that had led to the recent arrest of four suspected Jemaah Islamiyah members in Mindanao. In effectively vetoing a request to release the suspects to the MILF, she simply urged them “to avail themselves of the cease-fire process to thrash out any controversy.” The suspected J.I. terrorists are also members of the MILF. She said, “The peace process must go hand in hand with the antiterrorism campaign to box out terrorists to deny them sanctuary. Both the government and the MILF leadership are committed to fighting terrorism and we must not allow a wedge to divide this common stand.” In Cotabato City the MILF immediately accused the military of torturing two of the four suspects to force them to confess they formerly worked with a senior J.I. leader and participated in previous bomb attacks. MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu said in a telephone interview Monday that Sammy Abdulgani alias Boy and Abu, Datu Puti Ungka alias Pots, Montasser Ismael alias Raffy, and Badrodin Dalungan alias Badz, are MILF members and innocent of the allegations against them. He alleged having information about bruises and markings from torture on the bodies of their men -- one of them apparently Abdulgani -- and added they are contemplating suspending the peace talks until the suspects are released. The other “confessed J.I. member” had not been publicly identified yet. Kabalu added the MILF will demand that a committee of government and rebel representatives investigate the allegations. But in another interview in Koronadal City over radio, Kabalu said another thing. He told a radio interviewer the peace talks “would not really be affected” by the arrests and the MILF would still continue talking peace with the government even as he slammed the military for presenting the suspects “without passing through the appropriate channel.” Meaning to get MILF approval? “They [military man] bypassed the joint CCCH [Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities]. Considering that they are legitimate members of the MILF, they should have first sought the CCCH as this is the appropriate body that should look in the issue,” added Kabalu. 'At's what I thought... Vice chief of staff Lt. Gen. Rodolfo Garcia, also a member of the cease-fire committee, said he will wait for the guerrillas to file a complaint of mistreatment before discussing with them the allegations against the suspects. On the claim of Kabalu that being MILF members the four should be released, Garcia said that, “Whether they are MILF or not it doesn’t really matter because they were caught red-handed.” Seized allegedly from the suspects were 4 kilos of trinitrotolouene (TNT), 20 rounds of rocket-propelled grenades, 10 rounds of 81mm mortars, pistols and hand grenades. That does make it inconvenient, but to a true MILF negotiator like Lipless Eddie the facts are irrelevant... Garcia said the suspects have already confessed to links with J.I. and gave as reason that “the MILF no longer wants to practice terrorism.” In a radio interview the suspects supposedly said their terror activities may not be sanctioned by the MILF leadership. Thereby putting a nice face on it for MILF... Kabalu also rejected the claim by Sixth Infantry Division chief Maj. Gen. Generoso Senga in a radio interview that the suspects have confessed their involvement in bombings. Kabalu alleged that Ismael, Abdulgani, Ungka and Dalungan were tortured and were forced to admit during interrogation that they participated in previous bomb attacks on Tacurong City in Sultan Kudarat and Datu Odin Sinsuat and Parang towns in Maguindanao. “It is a standard operating procedure of the military to torture enemies of the State they arrest. Even I myself was tortured before by soldiers,” said Kabalu. “Our Central Committee already asked both members of the government and MILF Coordinating Committee on Cessation of Hostilities to convene any time this week to handle and investigate the allegation of the military.”

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Southeast Asia

MILF’s ties to JI slow Filippino peace talks

2004-02-09

Peace talks between the government and Muslim separatist rebels may be stymied by suspected links between the group and regional militant network Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), a top official said Sunday. But I doubt they will be... Government peace negotiations said JI "would remain to be a continuing major concern" that may affect the talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), military chief of staff Lieutenant General Rodolfo Garcia said. "We have an ongoing mission pertaining to the JI," Garcia told reporters here after meeting with an MILF panel enforcing a ceasefire pact with the government. The MILF and government panels had created a joint interim action team to prevent and address the occurrence of armed encounters between secessionist group members and government troops. Called the I-ACT, the team was created during the 15th Joint Meeting in Davao between the government’s and MILF’s coordinating committees on the cessation of hostilities. According to Garcia, the government is still trying to establish whether members of JI -- the group thought to be responsible for the Bali bombing -- were training in MILF camps in the main southern island of Mindanao, he said. President Arroyo had called on the MILF to cut off links to the JI as a precondition for the resumption of formal negotiations, which may be hosted by Malaysia soon. Both the MILF and the government earlier agreed to a ceasefire and create a monitoring team headed by Malaysian observers to oversee violations in the agreement. The I-ACT is one such ceasefire mechanism ensuring that incidents like the Pikit armed conflict in February last year will not happen again. A series of armed encounters hit Central Mindanao last year as a result of government’s hot pursuit operations against lawless elements in areas controlled by the MILF. Garcia said the I-ACT will foster better coordination between the MILF and the government, especially during military and police operations conducted in areas identified with the MILF. Both panels reportedly agreed on the "temporary relocation" of MILF forces to a neutral place when government troops pursue lawless elements in their areas. Benjie Midtimbang, chair of the MILF committee on the cessation of hostilities, said he sees nothing wrong with the "temporary relocation" as long as government provides for their forces during the relocation.

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Southeast Asia

Filippino government, MILF tap dance around JI issue

2004-02-08

The ceasefire committees of the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) have included in the agenda in today’s joint meeting, the reported Jemaah Islamiyah training activities in Mindanao but mainly because they want to jointly come up with “categorical answers” on the “perplexing questions” repeatedly raised by the foreign press. Lt. Gen. Rodolfo Garcia, the Armed Forces vice chief of staff and chair of the government’s Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH), noted that the news of JI training in MILF-held areas mostly came from the foreign press. “I don’t know where the foreign media is getting these reports,” he told a press conference during a break in the 15th Joint CCCH meeting at the Tower Inn today. I dunno. I usually get it from the Manila Times or Jakarta Post... But Garcia said media reports on the JI are “certainly an important issue” that the joint government-MILF CCCH has to tackle “because it has a way of affecting the peace process.” The JI issue was raised in the press conference by a visiting foreigner, the deputy bureau chief of Reuters in Manila. “We need to exchange notes and also get responses from the government and from the MILF side pertaining to Jemaah Islamiyah and be able to come up with some definitive and categorical answers to some perplexing questions that have been raised particularly by the foreign media,” Garcia said. Garcia noted that the latest of the string of foreign media reports on the JI is that 15 trainees recently graduated from training sites in Maguindanao province. “It is in this ceasefire committee that matters like this (reported graduation of 15 JI trainees) are also taken up to be able to get from our MILF counterparts assurances or actions that have been done, confirmatory or not, as they continue to come,” Garcia said. Previous CCCH meetings have also tabled the JI issue and that members of the joint committees have initiated fact finding missions, along with some members of civil society groups, to verify these reports, Garcia said. Benjie Midtimbang, MILF CCCH chair, said allegations linking the MILF to the JI which had been linked to the series of bombing operations in Mindanao, Metro Manila and other parts of Southeast Asia, have come mainly from different media organizations. He said the matter has also been tabled by the CCCH in its past meetings based on media reports and that they had agreed to jointly conduct investigations in areas where the JI trainings were reportedly done in consonance with the MILF policy of helping the government solve the series of bombings in Mindanao and even in the neighboring countries. He said members of the joint CCCH visited last December, Cararao, a mountain in the borders of Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur, where JI recruits have reportedly trained. “I am proud to inform you, brother, that no one was found as a member of the Jemaah Islamiyah” he said. I think Dan predicted that when the name first came up... Midtimbang said a television media crew who went with them can attest and show other members of the media the result of this fact-finding mission. Midtimbang also said that the MILF has enforced a long-standing policy that “any member of the MILF must never link with any group who are suspected to be members of criminal elements.” “We are not criminal people, we are Muslims who always want to protect lives and properties be he a Christian or a Muslim. It is not within the vocabulary of the MILF to have links with these groups,” he said. Midtimbang said they have made assurances to their counterparts in the government CCCH that they will not allow criminal or suspected terrorists to use any part of the areas held by the MILF.

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