OIC panel to probe military-MNLF hostilities

COTABATO CITY — A 23-member panel from the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) will start its investigation next week into last June’s hostilities between the military and the Moro National Liberation Front in Datu Piang, Maguindanao, which left nine MNLF members dead.

Cotabato City Mayor Muslimin Sema, MNLF secretary-general, said the OIC fact-finding mission will particularly look into the reported destruction of houses, a mosque and agricultural facilities at the MNLF camp in Kitango, Datu Piang as a result of the conflict.

The OIC brokered the peace negotiations between the administration of former President Fidel Ramos and the MNLF which led to the signing of the historic Sept. 2, 1996 peace accord.

MNLF forces in Datu Piang and the military have been accusing each other of having provoked the hostilities. They have since been on a standoff, with no formula to prevent a repeat of the incident.

Abdurahman Basco Totin, overall commander of MNLF forces in Datu Piang, claimed that the conflict started when members of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division and the 301st Infantry Brigade intruded into their camp, now a "zone of peace," without prior coordination.

One of the nine MNLF members killed in the ensuing hostilities was Totin’s 18-year-old newly wed son.

The military, however, said the clashes erupted when MNLF forces opened fire on soldiers sent to the camp to verify the presence there of two key members of the notorious Pentagon kidnap-for-ransom gang.

"The team from the OIC will look into all of these accusations, question the people in the communities surrounding the area where there were firefights, the local officials and other sectors that can shed light on the issue," Sema told The STAR.

Tension in Barangay Kitango waned only after the MNLF and the military agreed to reposition their respective forces, thanks to the intercession of Sema and Presidential Assistant for Mindanao Jesus Dureza.

Maj. Julieto Ando, 6th ID spokesman, said their units in Datu Piang and nearby areas have been directed to fully cooperate with and provide security to the OIC fact-finding team.