No development without peace: New ARMM chief
No development without peace: New ARMM chief
Agence France-Presse, Manila
New Philippine Muslim leader Parouk Hussin told his rebellious brethren on Tuesday there could be no development without peace and called for them to lay down their arms and help build the impoverished south.
The medical doctor and former separatist guerrilla leader was sworn in as the new governor of the Muslim self-rule area by President Gloria Arroyo here on Tuesday as sporadic clashes in the region over the past two days left four gunmen dead.
Hussin will be chief executive for the next three years of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), a patchwork of five mainly Muslim provinces which was the minority's reward for ending a 24-year rebellion in 1996.
He replaces his former Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) comrade Nur Misuari, who was arrested in Malaysia last month after mounting a bloody revolt in a last-ditch bid to remain in power.
"The biggest challenge is peace and order because we cannot (implement) development unless we address the deterioration of peace and order," he told reporters, citing kidnappings by armed Moro gangs in the area which include the Abu Sayyaf and the Pentagon.
Filipino and U.S. military officials say the Abu Sayyaf -- which holds two Americans and a Filipino hostage in the island of Basilan -- has links with Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect for the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States.
The Pentagon rogue Moro separatists hold an Italian Roman Catholic priest.
"(The Abu Sayyaf problem) is being addressed by the military. Of course, the military is just one solution. We will also address the socio-economic aspect of the problem," Hussin said.
"The Pentagon is another criminal group. It has to be dealt with by the appropriate agencies," Hussin added.
Arroyo has said she plans to pour development aid into the region and hopes to convince the private sector to follow suit.
The new governor said he had received congratulatory messages from the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), the broker of the 1996 peace pact.
Asked if he considered Misuari and his armed followers as a threat to the ARMM, Hussin said: "To me there is no challenge from Misuari. There has never been any quarrel or split (between) us. It just so happens that some brothers, like brother Misuari, are not happy to leave their position."
He said the ARMM government would hold talks "not only with the renegade MNLF, but other radical forces in the area."
Four suspected Misuari followers were slain in the past two days, including one lynched by angry villagers, as troops stepped up their hunt for remnants of the armed group, officials said on Tuesday.
Villagers in Limpapa district near the southern city of Zamboanga tipped off soldiers to the presence of a group of gunmen on Tuesday, triggering clashes that left three rebels dead, Army Col. Alexander Yano said.
The body of a fourth man was recovered by police in Pasonanca district. Witnesses said he was set upon by knife-wielding villagers out for revenge.
More than 200 Misuari followers last week took over a government complex in Zamboanga, triggering clashes with the military that left scores dead and wounded.
They later seized about 113 civilians but freed them in exchange for safe passage out of the city.
Nearly 2,000 soldiers have been sent to surround the gunmen in the village of Panubigan, but officials said negotiations were underway to persuade them to surrender their firearms.