Fighting mars end of Ramadan

ZAMBOANGA CITY (AFP) – Fighting broke out between government troops and Muslim rebels in Mindanao yesterday, marring the first time the country’s Muslim minority celebrated Eid-ul Fitr as an officially recognized holiday.

Soldiers clashed with separatist fighters of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on the outskirts of Sultan sa Barongis in Maguindanao and near Bunawan in North Cotabato, spokesmen of the military and the MILF said separately.

Regional military spokesman Maj. Julieto Ando said MILF guerrillas attacked several villages, drawing retaliatory fire from military MG-520 attack helicopters. One soldier was wounded and a number of MILF fighters were believed killed.

"The motives of the attacks are unclear, but soldiers are pursuing the terrorists," Ando said.

MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu said the rebels were only responding to a military attack on Muslim civilians in Maguindanao that left one woman dead.

The fighting came despite a ceasefire forged last year to pave the way for peace talks, the latest in a string of sporadic clashes between the 12,000-strong MILF and government forces.

It was not clear whether the attacks intended to coincide with Eid al-Fitr, which commemorates the end of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan.

Gift giving under a heavy security cordon marked Eid celebrations across the southern Philippines.

Soldiers and police were strategically deployed around Zamboanga and in the nearby islands of Jolo and Basilan to guard against possible aggression by the Abu Sayyaf Muslim kidnapping group.

Military spokesman Lt. Col. Danilo Lucero said there were unconfirmed reports of possible new attacks by the Abu Sayyaf as Ramadan ended and the Christmas season approached.

Details were vague but Lucero said "if the Abu Sayyaf will make good on their threat, then that is un-Islamic."

The Abu Sayyaf have been linked by both Washington and Manila to the al-Qaeda network of terror mastermind Osama bin Laden.

The group has kidnapped Christians and foreigners in the south for ransom and bombed Christian targets and public places including shopping malls in recent years.

The Abu Sayyaf have been blamed for a series of bomb blasts in the southern Philippines in October that killed 12 people including a US serviceman involved in a military assistance project.

The tight security did not hinder Muslim celebrations in the majority-Christian nation, however. Muslim families gathered, dressed in their best clothes, to see displays of traditional Muslim dances and to sample local delicacies of Muslim ethnic groups.

Captured Muslim guerrillas were permitted to hold a mass prayer ceremony at a government detention center near Manila, and on southern Basilan island, Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman handed out traditional Eid presents to children.

Lucero said there was some alarm early Friday when Muslims in Jolo and Basilan marked the start of Eid al-Fitr in their traditional manner – firing off gunshots into the air, but there were no reports of violence in these areas.

Yesterday marked the first time the Philippines celebrated Eid al-Fitr as a public holiday, following a decision by President Arroyo last month. — With Roel Pareño