Arroyo declares victory in campaign against rebels
Arroyo declares victory in campaign against rebels
Agence France-Presse, Manila
President Gloria Arroyo on Monday declared victory in a 10-day- old military campaign against "terrorist cells" allegedly sheltered by the largest Moro separatist group in the southern Philippines.
Arroyo had ordered selective "punitive" strikes against Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) units she blamed for deadly bombings and raids on the Mindanao island shortly before her state visit to the United States on May 17.
"The punitive military actions against the terrorist attackers of Siocon, Zamboanga del Norte and Maigo, Lanao del Norte have been dislodged from their bases and dispersed into ragtag groups being run to the ground by the government troops," she said in a speech.
"The investigation into the Davao and Koronadal bombings is bearing fruit with the arrest of the perpetrators of these and even previous terrorist attacks," she added.
Arroyo has warned the 12,500-member MILF, waging a campaign to set up an Islamic state in the southern third of the mainly Roman Catholic Philippines, of giving succor to "terrorist cells".
She has warned the MILF to surrender the suspected bombers and raiders responsible for nearly 100 deaths and to renounce alleged ties to foreign terror groups by June 1 or be branded as a "terrorist organization."
The MILF has denied any links to the al-Qaeda terror network of Osama bin laden or its Southeast Asian wing, the Jamaah Islamiyah.
The MILF has also dismissed claims it was linked to the local Abu Sayyaf kidnap for ransom group, which both Washington and Manila say is affiliated to the al-Qaeda.
Arroyo said on Monday that her Washington trip secured a U.S. government aid worth US$96 million to help children in conflict areas of the southern Philippines, apart from Manila in the category of a major non-NATO ally.
"The success of my state visit is about recognizing that moral choices in moments of crisis must be backed up in day to day life by unified action, sustained vigor, and effective prosecution," she said.