Recovery of RI sailors test pact<\/p>\n
Agence France-Presse, Manila<\/p>\n
Military operations to recover three Indonesian sailors held
\ncaptive by Muslim gunmen in the southern Philippines is seen by
\nIndonesia as a test of a trilateral terrorism pact it signed with
\nManila and Malaysia last month, an official said on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda met with Eduardo
\nErmita, a senior adviser to President Gloria Arroyo, in last
\nweek's annual meeting of the Organization of Islamic Conference
\n(OIC) in Sudan and asked to be updated on the kidnapping.<\/p>\n
Hassan \"told Ermita that Indonesia considered the military-
\npolice operations to recover three Indonesian hostages in Sulu as
\na test of the trilateral agreement on the fight against
\nterrorism,\" presidential spokesman Silvestre Afable said.<\/p>\n
Armed men believed to be bandits boarded a tugboat hauling a
\ncoal-laden barge near the rebel stronghold of Basilan island
\nearlier this month and seized the vessel's four Indonesian
\nofficers.<\/p>\n
The second officer, Ferdinan Joel, escaped two days later. But
\nthe bandits, led by a man called Malud Mahili, still hold the
\nboat's skipper Muntu Jacobus Winowatan, chief officer Julkipli
\nand chief engineer Pieter Lerrech.<\/p>\n
The police and the military have launched a rescue operation
\nto recover the Indonesians, who are believed to be held near the
\ntown of Luuk on Jolo island, which is part of the Sulu island
\nprovince in the south.<\/p>\n
Ermita had assured the Indonesian foreign minister that
\nPresident Arroyo gave a \"strong directive for the military and
\npolice to run after the kidnappers and rescue the hostages,\"
\nAfable stressed.<\/p>\n
A crisis committee has also been set up to closely monitor the
\nrescue effort, led by Muslim autonomous region governor Parouk
\nHussin, he said.<\/p>\n
The Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia last month signed a
\ntrilateral agreement to help one another curb cross-border
\nterrorism and other crimes.<\/p>\n
Ermita also said on Sunday the influential OIC is \"seriously
\nconsidering\" a request by predominantly Catholic Philippines to
\nbe granted an observer status.<\/p>\n
Ermita, who is on his way back to Manila after attending the
\nOIC's annual meeting in Sudan last week, relayed the assurance to
\nthe presidential palace, spokesman Silvestre Afable said.<\/p>\n
Manila believes OIC representation would be crucial in helping
\nto solve the decades-long Muslim insurgency in the south.<\/p>\n
However the observer status would only be granted once a 1996
\nOIC-brokered peace pact between the government and the former
\nMuslim separatist group, Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF),
\nwas fully implemented, Afable said.<\/p>\n
\"An OIC team will soon visit the Philippines to look into the
\nimplementation of the agreement and should the team report
\npositively, then the application for the (government) as OIC
\nobserver will be immediately submitted to the OIC secretariat for
\nconsideration,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The Philippine government maintains it has lived up to the
\nprovisions of the 1996 peace pact, the centerpiece of which is
\nthe creation of a Muslim autonomous region in the southern island
\nof Mindanao.<\/p>\n
MNLF leader Nur Misuari however last year accused the
\ngovernment of reneging on certain provisions of the peace accord
\nand eventually led a bloody but failed rebellion in his island
\nstronghold of Jolo.<\/p>\n
More than 100 people were killed in the uprising, which was
\ncrushed by government forces and forced Misuari to flee to
\nMalaysia. He was later arrested by Malaysian authorities and
\nreturned to Manila, where he is in jail on charges of rebellion.<\/p>\n
Ermita also reported that the OIC welcomed the ceasefire
\nsigned between Manila and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front
\n(MILF) last year and urged all Islamic relief and charitable
\norganizations to extend humanitarian assistance to the troubled
\nsouth.<\/p>\n
The MILF splintered from the MNLF in the late 1970s and was
\nexcluded from the 1996 peace accord.<\/p>",
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