MILF WANTS REFERENDUM ON AUTONOMY
By Manny B. Marinay,
Herbie Gomez and Charmaine C. Deogracias
THE Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)
will not even discuss with government peace negotiators Malacañang’s offer of
autonomy, until after national officials agree to an exclusive Muslim referendum on
self-determination.
In a telephone interview, MILF spokesman Eid
Kabalu also said the referendum should be monitored by a third party, preferably an
Islamic country.
“The referendum will determine, once
and for all, whether the Bangsamoro people want autonomy or secession,” Kabalu
pointed out. “If this government really believes it is in the right, it will grant
the Bangsamoro this exercise.”
Kabalu said rebels would undertake new
tactics to pressure government into agreeing to a referendum covering Muslim-dominated
areas of Sulu, Tawi-tawi, Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat, Lanao del Sur, Basilan and
Cotabato.
Suicide bombers
Military intelligence officials, on the
other hand, warned that rebels were upping the “terrorist factor,” with plans to
use “suicide bombers.”
They also bared the first “concrete
proof” of the MILF’s tactical alliance with the New People’s Army (NPA),
citing the Wednesday raid on a security outpost of a private plantation in Compostela
Valley.
While no one was hurt, the joint MILF-NPA
force carted off three M-16 rifles, two M-14 rifles, and two handheld radios.
“This is a take it or leave it
situation,” Kabalu stressed “There are no ongoing
negotiations through back-door channels whatsoever and no more peace negotiations.”
Even as the rebel spokesman discussed “one
last chance for peace,” he confirmed that MILF chairman Hashim Salamat and top rebel
leaders had completed defense plans for Camp Abubakar, the main rebel base now reeling
from a week of air strikes.
Kabalu jeered at the military’s
forecast of an easy walk into Abubakar. “Can this government really capture a
10,000-hectare camp? It would be very difficult for them. We have long prepared for our
defenses,” he said.
--with a report from Faber
Concepcion
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