RP rebels to open bases for JI hunt<\/p>\n
Manny Mogato
\nReuters\/Manila<\/p>\n
The largest Muslim rebel group in the Philippines will open some
\nof its bases to joint inspections with government forces looking
\nfor members of regional militant group Jamaah Islamiyah (JI), a
\ntop rebel official said on Friday.<\/p>\n
Philippine defense officials have accused the Moro Islamic
\nLiberation Front (MILF) of allowing the foreign militants, mostly
\nfrom neighboring Indonesia, to train with local Muslim rebels in
\nthe MILF's mountain bases in the southern island of Mindanao.<\/p>\n
The United States has raised pressure on Manila to oust the al
\nQaeda-linked JI by saying it is concerned about their presence in
\nMindanao.<\/p>\n
"There's a common interest from both sides to inspect MILF
\ncamps to settle the issue once and for all that we are coddling
\nJI militants in our camps," Benjie Midtimbang, the head of the
\nrebels' cease-fire panel, told Reuters.<\/p>\n
"We wanted to make everything clear, so we agreed to open our
\ncamps for joint inspection."<\/p>\n
Midtimbang could not say when the MILF and government cease-
\nfire panels would visit the rebel bases.<\/p>\n
The panels have policed a year-long cease-fire in the conflict
\nbetween the government and the MILF, which is fighting for
\nindependence for Muslim areas and publicly rejects terrorism.<\/p>\n
Defense Secretary Eduardo Ermita has said there are about 30
\nto 40 JI members in MILF camps in Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao
\nprovinces, some of them teaching local militants how to make
\nimprovised bombs out of unspent mortar projectiles.<\/p>\n
But sources in the military told Reuters the number is
\nbelieved to have increased to about 100, with most hiding in two
\nMILF-controlled areas in Mount Cararao, Lanao del Sur.<\/p>\n
The cease-fire panels ended a two-day meeting in southern
\nZamboanga City on Friday aimed at ironing out issues that are
\nstanding in the way of the resumption of formal peace talks after
\n2 years.<\/p>\n
Last month, the MILF offered to help the government "isolate"
\nand "interdict" criminals and foreign militants hiding in Muslim
\ncommunities to demonstrate its commitment to peace.<\/p>\n
Philippine security sources said JI members are active in
\ncamps called Hudeibiah and Jabal Quba at Mount Cararao and in
\ncamp Vietnam in another part of central Mindanao.<\/p>\n
The MILF has been giving them protection in exchange for
\ntraining and cash, they said.<\/p>\n
The rebel group has repeatedly denied connections with JI at
\nthe official level, but said it could not discount the
\npossibility that some members have close personal ties with
\nforeign militants, including JI and al-Qaeda.<\/p>\n
"We wanted this investigated," Eid Kabalu, the MILF spokesman
\ntold Reuters on Monday. "We are not hiding anything. Should there
\nbe an intention to dig more into this issue, we are opening our
\ndoors for an investigation to find out the whole truth about it."<\/p>",
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