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Estrada offers amnesty to Muslim separatists |
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September 30, 2000
MANILA, (AP) - President Joseph Estrada offered amnesty Friday to Muslim guerrillas in an effort to curtail a decades-old secessionist rebellion that has killed more than 120,000 people in the southern Philippines. A rebel spokesman rejected the offer, calling it propaganda. Estrada offered the amnesty to members and supporters of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the larger of two rebel groups fighting for an independent Islamic state in the southern Philippines. The smaller but more radical Abu Sayyaf group, which is holding 17 hostages on southern Jolo island, is considered by the government to be a bandit group and was not offered the amnesty. A massive military rescue operation was launched two weeks ago to recover the hostages. Estrada said amnesty for the MILF rebels would "facilitate their return to a peaceful, democratic and pluralistic society so essential to the attainment of peace and prosperity." The amnesty covers rebels who have committed crimes "in pursuit of their political beliefs" but does not cover kidnappings, massacres, torture and rape. Guerrillas granted amnesty may still face civil suits from victims seeking compensation. The military has blamed most kidnappings and massacres of civilians in the southern Mindanao region on the MILF. The rebels regard Mindanao as the homeland of Muslims in the Philippines. It is one of the Philippines' most resource-rich regions but also one of its poorest. MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu dismissed the amnesty offer as propaganda which previous administrations had also used unsuccessfully to end the Muslim insurgency. "We will not bite into that," he said. "This is part of their effort to weaken the movement. This is the cleverness of the government. Basically, it will have no effect on us." He said MILF guerrillas will be "steadfast" and not apply for amnesty. The amnesty offer came as the government renewed efforts to resume peace talks with the rebels. Alexander Aguirre, Estrada's national security adviser, warned if the rebels refuse to negotiate "they will forever be guerrillas" and be sidelined in the implementation of a 1996 peace agreement with the former mainstream rebel group, the Moro National Liberation Front. "They will be phased out of the picture because they are just guerrillas if they won't talk to us properly," Aguirre said. Aguirre estimated there are 14,000 to 15,000 MILF rebels but said they have been scattered following a massive military campaign to oust them from their camps in Mindanao. The rebels shifted to guerrilla warfare after the military captured their headquarters, Camp Abubakar, in early July. Estrada suspended talks with the rebels after they refused to abandon their secessionist goal and surrender their arms. In response, MILF chairman Salamat Hashim declared a jihad, or holy war, against the Estrada government. An MILF assembly last week affirmed the jihad declaration and also supported the indefinite suspension of peace talks with the government, Kabalu said. He said the rebels are still open to talks, but want them to be held in a foreign country. He also said the government should drop criminal charges against rebel leaders and remove bounties on their heads. Emily Marhombsar, a member of the government peace panel, said the negotiators are seeking informal meetings with the rebels to discuss these demands before formal talks are resumed. |