MILF Welcomes US Offer of Assistance but Vows to Strike Back If Attacked
Mama Gubal & Agencies

SULTAN KUDARAT, Philippines, 21 May 2003 — The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) yesterday welcomed US President George W. Bush’s offer of financial and political assistance to a political settlement of the decades-old insurgency in the southern Philippines.

In a statement, the secessionist group said it viewed Bush’s offer as “a positive and important development in the history of the Bangsamoro people.”

The MILF said it is still committed to a peaceful settlement but it has no choice but to fight a continuing Philippine military offensive.

Bush told President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, during a White House reception Monday to honor a long-standing ally in the war on terror, that Washington wanted to back a renewed peace process between Manila and MILF.

He said the US aid for the impoverished southern Philippines depended on whether the MILF, which is fighting for an Islamic state there, abandons violence and chooses “a peaceful reconciliation of issues.”

Bush also announced military assistance for the poorly equipped Philippine military.

He said if the MILF rebels “continue to want to use terror and force,” the United States would assist the Philippine government in its fight against the rebels to the extent allowed under its constitution, which bars foreign troops from direct combat.

Kabalu said the MILF always welcomes all development assistance. “If they can convert our roads into gold, why not?” he said.

He also said the MILF agreed with Bush about renouncing the use of terror and force, saying that “we are not engaged in terrorist activities, we are only defending ourselves in the face of the onslaught against us.”

“The MILF as a policy is committed to peaceful and democratic solution to the Mindanao problem. And the use of force is a matter of last resort when all peaceful means are exhausted. Therefore, the condition sit by President Bush is not a problem to the MILF,” he said.

He said the MILF has pursued peace with the government and has come up with several agreements, but that the process was derailed by a major military offensive in February that drove the rebels from a key camp on the main southern island of Mindanao. The MILF also warned the United States against helping the local military in assaults against the rebel forces. He said their fighters would not harm the US troops if they do not actively help in the government’s fight with the rebels.

“But if they help the government, that is another story. We cannot just sit down and allow them to kill us. That would be illogical,” Kabalu told AFP by phone from his base in the southern Philippines.

Before leaving for the United States, Arroyo ordered the military to launch airstrikes and artillery assaults on “embedded terrorist cells” blamed for recent bombings and other attacks that have killed at least 210 people this year.

Presidential Chief of Staff Rigoberto Tiglao said the four-day-old offensive has been largely successful with 70 rebels killed and no civilian casualties and could end within days. About 17,000 people have been displaced, but officials said they were arranging for their return.

Kabalu denied any rebels were killed and said the victims are the “tens of thousands of people” displaced by the new air and ground strikes in the Lanao and Cotabato provinces.

The 12,000-strong MILF has been fighting for almost three decades. Sporadic peace talks, mediated by Malaysia, stalled after the government accused the rebels of colluding with terrorist groups and the rebels said Manila was negotiating in bad faith.

Bush also announced that US troops will return to the southern Philippines this year for another round of joint counterterrorism training with Filipino soldiers. The president declared the Philippines a major non-NATO ally to afford greater access to US military supplies and equipment.