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Southeast Asia

Int'l group slams US-backed security operations

2008-05-20

THE United States-backed security operations in Mindanao may push the al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group to the bosoms of the larger Islamic insurgent groups. It's the usual refrain: Don't do anything about them, it'll just make them mad. Just let them do what they want. An international conflict and resolution non-government organization (NGO) said, "The US and the Philippines need to refocus energies on peace processes in Mindanao or they risk new hostilities between government forces and insurgents." "We can't win. You realize that, don't you?" The "Philippines: Counter-insurgency vs. Counter-terrorism in Mindanao," the latest report from ICG warns that US-backed security operations in the southern Philippines are confusing counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism and risk pushing the Abu Sayyaf group -- their target -- into the arms of the broader insurgencies in Mindanao -- the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). "The 'Mindanao model' of combining military operations with civic action operations against the Abu Sayyaf has been widely heralded as a success, but the gains could be short-lived", said Kit Collier, a consultant for Crisis Group. "As a matter of fact, they've probably evaporated already." "The model involves using counter-insurgency techniques for counter-terrorism goals, but the only way the Philippines will effectively manage domestic terrorism is to secure the cooperation of the MILF and MNLF - and that requires concrete progress toward formal peace agreements," he added. "So, really, you should just give them what they want. It'll be easier in the end." The government has forged a final peace deal with the MNLF in 1996 but there have been provisions still unimplemented, which the Organization of Islamic Conference is trying to settle. On the other hand, peace talks with the MILF have been snagged by the ancestral domain issue. ICG said the urgency of finalizing agreements [with the MILF] is even more acute since the Malaysian government announced last month that it was withdrawing from an international monitoring team that has kept the lid on conflict in Mindanao since 2004. The report also urges the Philippines government to revive the Ad Hoc Joint Action Group (Ahjag). Designed to facilitate information sharing between the Philippine government and the MILF, Ahjag was critical to the prevention of conflict escalation in 2005-2007 as the search for terrorists intensified, the report added. After a six-month hiatus, its mandate was formally extended in November 2007 but is not yet fully restored. A similar arrangement should be developed with the MNLF. But the leadership of both insurgencies will only be willing to provide information on terrorists in their midst as part of a political endgame, and the Philippines government is stalling, while the US appears more focused on economic aid than political agreements, the report said. "The number of terrorists in the Philippines is small relative to the mass-based insurgencies in which they take cover", said John Virgoe, Crisis Group's South East Asia director. "But the ASG and its allies remain dangerous because of their potential to drag the MILF and MNLF back into war," he added.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Jihad may have ended in Poso

2008-01-23

(AKI) - A year after a police operation left 14 Islamic militants and a policeman dead in Poso in the Indonesian province of Central Sulawesi, a leading think-tank says jihadi violence may have ended there. The International Crisis Group (ICG) said there are grounds for "cautious optimism" but more needs to be done to ensure peace is maintained. In its report, Indonesia: Tackling Radicalism in Poso, the ICG said that the government had arrested and convicted those guilty of jihadi crimes since 2001, while extremists linked to Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) had fled the area. "No serious violence has taken place in Poso for twelve months, " the report said. "The JI administrative unit in Poso appears to have been destroyed, at least temporarily." According to Sidney Jones, a senior ICG advisor, welcomed government peace initiatives but warned that new threats are emerging. “Now the task is to see that the peace is sustained,” she said. Jemaah Islamiyah is a terrorist organisation committed to uniting most of Southeast Asia into an Islamic caliphate. The group is responsible for several bombings that have taken place in the region since 2000 including the 2002 Bali bombing. A bloody sectarian war raged between Christians and Muslims in Poso between 1998 and 2001. It was reportedly chosen as a new hub by JI soon after the end of the conflict and the move led to an escalation of religious-related crimes. In January 2007 conflict erupted when police sought to persuade those alleged of crimes to turn themselves in. The ICG said in the past year the Indonesian government had made funds available to improve education and promoting vocational training in the region. The two initiatives are aimed at diluting the influence of radical teaching and ensuring that would-be extremists have career opportunities. The ICG report, however, warned that their implementation could undermine peace efforts. The think-tank highlighted that grievances, particularly relating to justice and accountability, have not been fully resolved. It also said funding initiatives were mired in allegations of corruption, the issue that most concerns non-government organisations and community leaders. “The whiff - or stench - of corruption has long hung over Poso, and it undermines public trust in government more generally”, said John Virgoe, ICG Southeast Asia project director. “If corruption can be brought under control and the deradicalisation initiatives take hold, then perhaps the residents of Poso will have reason for hope”. The ICG said national and local government needed to lift its auditing procedures and increase funding transparency.

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