Abubakar opened to Muslim rebels

COTABATO CITY – Camp Abubakar will be open to fighters of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) as long as they don’t bring their firearms, the government and the military said yesterday.

Even the head of the separatist group, Hashim Salamat, can return to his home inside the camp in line with the Arroyo administration’s peace initiative, said presidential assistant for Mindanao Jesus Dureza.

Dureza said Salamat was free to return to the captured stronghold but stressed that he and his men would not be able to bring weapons or turn the camp into an armed base again.

Army Major Julieto Ando, spokesman for the 6th Infantry Division now securing the camp, said they have also been ordered to help the rebels rehabilitate the farms that were destroyed in the takeover last year.

"This is our way of supporting the efforts of President Arroyo in reopening the peace process with the MILF," Ando said.

He said Brig. Gen. Roy Kyamko, commander of the 6th Infantry Division, has offered the use of military trucks to haul seeds, fertilizer and farming equipment to Abubakar.

They have strict orders, however, not to let any rebel roam around the camp with firearms.

Camp Abubakar, the front’s main bastion at the border of Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur provinces, fell to government hands on July 9 after a weeklong offensive that exacted heavy casualties on both sides.

Salamat’s house and other MILF facilities in Abubakar were destroyed as part of the offensive ordered by then President Joseph Estrada. This led to the collapse of peace talks with the separatist group.

But after Estrada’s ouster, Mrs. Arroyo sought to reopen peace talks with both the MILF and communist insurgents.

Dureza said he visited the captured camp and inspected Salamat’s ruined house, saying: "Let us reconstruct his house. We are reconstructing the houses of the community residents there because he may seek to return."

"But if he goes back, there can no longer be an armed element but he will be in a civilian community," Dureza said.

He said the military would keep a close watch to ensure that MILF members do not bring any weapons to the camp.

"We cannot be naive about all this," the presidential adviser said.

Last month, the government declared a unilateral truce with the MILF, and last week envoys from both sides met in Malaysia to secure a deal for resumption of talks and the declaration of a ceasefire.

The President said yesterday she believes the MILF will no longer push for a separate Bangsamoro state in Mindanao.

"The way they talked to us in Kuala Lumpur, they are willing to talk to us in the context of our territorial integrity," she said.

Meanwhile, the military said yesterday the offensive against the extremist group Abu Sayyaf in Basilan and Sulu provinces would not cease despite the latest developments in Mindanao.

Southern Command chief Lt. Gen. Gregorio Camiling said the present strength of soldiers running after the bandits in the South has remained intact.

Camiling said forces could even be increased as soldiers continue pursuing members of the group, which still holds captive American Jeffrey Schilling and Filipino divemaster Roland Ullah.

No negotiations through media

The President said yesterday she won’t allow peace negotiations with the MILF and communist insurgents to be done through the media.

She said her administration will not tolerate the practice of "telegraphing the nitty-gritty of the peace talks through interviews with media outfits."

"We will not negotiate through the media. That’s why we formed government panels with the rebel groups in the first place so details can be settled at the negotiating table," she said, reacting to the demands of National Democratic Front (NDF) negotiator Luis Jalandoni, who was earlier interviewed by a local radio station.

In a related development, government negotiator and Agrarian Reform Secretary Hernani Braganza said that all is set for the resumption of peace talks with the NDF.

"The government and the NDF have agreed to formally start talks on April 27 in any Scandinavian country because both panels want to pursue peace," he told reporters in a forum at the Sulo Hotel in Quezon City.

As proof that all is well for the talks, Braganza said some NDF people are set to arrive in Manila on April 8.

Scheduled to arrive from the Netherlands are Jalandoni, Coni Ledesma, Fidel Agcaoli and Tony Zumel. – With Marichu Villanueva, Roel Pareño, Cecille Suerte Felipe