MNLF CHAIRMAN
CHALLENGES STATE LEADERS
ON ANTI-KIDNAPPING CAMPAIGN
By Abdullah Osman, BMNews Correspondent
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Mnlf Chairman Nur
Misuari and Commander Ustaz Habir Malik during a
visit of the Chairman to Camp Jabal Uhud, stronghold
of Cmdr. Malik. |
State Chairman Alhaj
Khaid Ajibon of the Lupah Sug State Revolutonary
Committee who recently launched an anti-kidnapping
campaign in Sulu. |
BMNews,
Jolo, Sulu - Chairman Prof. Nur Misuari of the Moro
National Liberation Front (MNLF) traveled immediately to
Lupah Sug (Sulu) after arriving from the Middle East
last October 16, this year, to call a command meeting of
all MNLF officers of the Lupah Sug State Revolutionary
Committee (LSSRC) and other island-based regional and
national military task forces.
As recalled the LSSRC-MNLF under Chairman Alhaj
Khaid Ajibon declared and launched the anti-kidnapping
campaign in the islands of Sulu last week, following the
'principled instruction' of the MNLF national Chairman
Prof. Misuari. The MNLF leadership moved to conduct the
anti-kidnapping campaign against the lawless elements
and patronized groups of the so-called Armed Forces of 'Pabaon'
(AFP) officialdom, emerging as a third AFP group that
the civilian Philippine government could not control.
Since the kidnapping spree had been going on unchecked
now for many years by the colonial AFP occupation troops
and the local Sulu provincial government, the victimized
helpless Muslim and Christian civilians of Sulu have
decided to seek the help of the MNLF to end the
un-Islamic activities of the Abu Sayyaf group and other
plain bandits in the islands.
It is recorded that former Senator Aquilino
Pimentel, Jr. revealed that the Abu Sayyaf group was
created by AFP former Generals Alexander Aguirre and
David Ruiz to neutralize the MNLF before the
GRP-OIC-MNLF peace talks during the early 1990s. The AFP-sponsored
group sprang out from the Al-Harakatul al-Islamia
(Islamic Movement) formed by the late Ustaj Abdurajak
Janjalanii (pseudo-name Abu Sayyaf) immediately after
AFP assets, like Edwin Angeles, Abu Sabaya and others,
penetrated the radical movement. The noted AFP 'agents'
later met their death mysteriously as reported by
Philippine media without corroborated source. The Al-Harakatul
al-Islamia is another splintered group from the MNLF
that could not accept autonomy under Philippine
colonialism as the fundamental solution to the
centuries-old Mindanao problem. Under Ustaj Abdurajak
Janjalani, the Islamic Movement, composed of young
Bangsamoro students and professionals, struggled in
establishing an independent Islamic State in Mindanao
closely similar with the MILF objective under the
martyred Ustaj Salamat Hashim. On the other hand, the
AFP-created Abu Sayyaf group has been reported by both
AFP and Philippine media propaganda as a monstrous
kidnapping machine in conducting kidnap-for-ransom
activities all over Mindanao, including Sipadan and
Palawan. The sensationalized criminal activities later
invited the entry of U.S. military forces in Mindanao to
combat 'terrorism' in the area. Though unconsciously,
the Philippine military and media may have forgotten
that the 'terrorists' could never be the local
freedom-conscious native inhabitants of Mindanao, but
the Filipino colonizers and other foreign invaders to
the region. The Abu Sayyaf group has also been reported
by Philippine and military media to have been reduced
into a very small group, but surprisingly it could still
conduct easily its kidnapping activities to the dismay
of the victimized families and peaceful populace in
war-torn Mindanao.
In meeting the MNLF state and national political,
military and religious leaders in the island of Jolo,
MNLF Chairman Prof. Nur Misuari challenged them to be
conscious of their Islamic responsibilities, including
stomping out kidnapping and other criminal activities
declared haraam by Islam. He also briefed the MNLF
forces and mass supporters related to the latest
development on the peace process between the MNLF and
Philippine government and the recently concluded Islamic
Conference of Foreign Ministers (ICFM) meeting in
Kazakhstan, June, this year. -abo/BMnews
