Fighting breaks out among Philippine Muslim rebels
MANILA, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Fighting broke out between rival factions of the largest Muslim separatist group on Mindanao island in the southern Philippines on Thursday, highlighting what analysts have said could be a split in the rebels.
Hundreds of people have fled a remote village in Maguindanao province on Mindanao after some 200 members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) occupied the area following two days of fighting, a rebel spokesman and army officials said on Thursday.
Army spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Franklin del Prado said the fighting was between MILF's radical faction with ties to foreign and local militants and its larger moderate group.
Eid Kabalu, an MILF spokesman, said the two factions were fighting over a corn farm in the village, adding that it would not affect peace talks with the government.
"We just hope the army would not come in to complicate things in the area. This is an isolated incident and it would not affect the peace process," he told Reuters by telephone.
Government and MILF peace negotiators are due to resume informal talks this month in Malaysia, part of efforts to set up an ancestral homeland for four million Muslims in the southern part of the mostly Catholic nation.
The nearly 40-year uprising by the 12,000-member MILF has killed more than 120,000 people and delayed development in impoverished but resource-rich Mindanao.
A truce holding since July 2003 nearly collapsed in January 2005 when security forces launched air and ground assaults against a group of MILF rebels that killed eight soldiers in an attack on an army detachment.
The army's commander in the area said the latest fighting violated the truce, adding that government troops were placed on alert to stop the rebels from moving to more populated areas in the province.
"We have warned them to return to their respective camps as soon as possible," Major-General Agustin Dema-ala told reporters.
"We could not allow this to continue. This is a violation of the ceasefire agreement."
The International Crisis Group, an organisation active in conflict prevention and resolution, said in December that moderate and militant factions in the MILF have been contending for influence over the direction of the separatist movement.
The group said if a final peace deal with the government failed to satisfy some MILF commanders, they may form an alliance with foreign and domestic militants and continue the struggle for an independent and separate Islamic state.
Hundreds of people have fled a remote village in Maguindanao province on Mindanao after some 200 members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) occupied the area following two days of fighting, a rebel spokesman and army officials said on Thursday.
Army spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Franklin del Prado said the fighting was between MILF's radical faction with ties to foreign and local militants and its larger moderate group.
Eid Kabalu, an MILF spokesman, said the two factions were fighting over a corn farm in the village, adding that it would not affect peace talks with the government.
"We just hope the army would not come in to complicate things in the area. This is an isolated incident and it would not affect the peace process," he told Reuters by telephone.
Government and MILF peace negotiators are due to resume informal talks this month in Malaysia, part of efforts to set up an ancestral homeland for four million Muslims in the southern part of the mostly Catholic nation.
The nearly 40-year uprising by the 12,000-member MILF has killed more than 120,000 people and delayed development in impoverished but resource-rich Mindanao.
A truce holding since July 2003 nearly collapsed in January 2005 when security forces launched air and ground assaults against a group of MILF rebels that killed eight soldiers in an attack on an army detachment.
The army's commander in the area said the latest fighting violated the truce, adding that government troops were placed on alert to stop the rebels from moving to more populated areas in the province.
"We have warned them to return to their respective camps as soon as possible," Major-General Agustin Dema-ala told reporters.
"We could not allow this to continue. This is a violation of the ceasefire agreement."
The International Crisis Group, an organisation active in conflict prevention and resolution, said in December that moderate and militant factions in the MILF have been contending for influence over the direction of the separatist movement.
The group said if a final peace deal with the government failed to satisfy some MILF commanders, they may form an alliance with foreign and domestic militants and continue the struggle for an independent and separate Islamic state.
posted by Marko at 1/26/2006 03:39:00 AM
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