RP rebels to open bases for JI hunt

RP rebels to open bases for JI hunt

Manny Mogato Reuters/Manila

The largest Muslim rebel group in the Philippines will open some of its bases to joint inspections with government forces looking for members of regional militant group Jamaah Islamiyah (JI), a top rebel official said on Friday.

Philippine defense officials have accused the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) of allowing the foreign militants, mostly from neighboring Indonesia, to train with local Muslim rebels in the MILF's mountain bases in the southern island of Mindanao.

The United States has raised pressure on Manila to oust the al Qaeda-linked JI by saying it is concerned about their presence in Mindanao.

"There's a common interest from both sides to inspect MILF camps to settle the issue once and for all that we are coddling JI militants in our camps," Benjie Midtimbang, the head of the rebels' cease-fire panel, told Reuters.

"We wanted to make everything clear, so we agreed to open our camps for joint inspection."

Midtimbang could not say when the MILF and government cease- fire panels would visit the rebel bases.

The panels have policed a year-long cease-fire in the conflict between the government and the MILF, which is fighting for independence for Muslim areas and publicly rejects terrorism.

Defense Secretary Eduardo Ermita has said there are about 30 to 40 JI members in MILF camps in Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao provinces, some of them teaching local militants how to make improvised bombs out of unspent mortar projectiles.

But sources in the military told Reuters the number is believed to have increased to about 100, with most hiding in two MILF-controlled areas in Mount Cararao, Lanao del Sur.

The cease-fire panels ended a two-day meeting in southern Zamboanga City on Friday aimed at ironing out issues that are standing in the way of the resumption of formal peace talks after 2 years.

Last month, the MILF offered to help the government "isolate" and "interdict" criminals and foreign militants hiding in Muslim communities to demonstrate its commitment to peace.

Philippine security sources said JI members are active in camps called Hudeibiah and Jabal Quba at Mount Cararao and in camp Vietnam in another part of central Mindanao.

The MILF has been giving them protection in exchange for training and cash, they said.

The rebel group has repeatedly denied connections with JI at the official level, but said it could not discount the possibility that some members have close personal ties with foreign militants, including JI and al-Qaeda.

"We wanted this investigated," Eid Kabalu, the MILF spokesman told Reuters on Monday. "We are not hiding anything. Should there be an intention to dig more into this issue, we are opening our doors for an investigation to find out the whole truth about it."