Murder raps vs Murad dropped

COTABATO CITY — Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez announced yesterday the dropping of murder and multiple murder charges which the police filed against Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chairman Al Haj Murad in connection with recent bombings in North Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat.

"We have no direct evidence against Murad. He was just mentioned by the complainants as being one of (those who) planned the bombings," he told reporters in Manila.

Gonzalez said he has ordered the local prosecutors to withdraw the charges against Murad.

The dropping of the murder charges against Murad removed a key stumbling block to the stalled peace talks with the MILF, although Gonzalez said the same thing would happen even if there were no talks.

Kidapawan City prosecutor Al Calica said he found no solid evidence that Murad was directly involved in two Oct. 10 bombings, including one that killed six people and wounded 29 others in Makilala, North Cotabato.

Police accused Murad of ordering the bombings, citing an MILF guerrilla who allegedly surrendered and confessed that he overheard his commander discussing the bomb plot with Murad in a cellular phone conversation.

"The complaints were an insult. We have decided not to resume the peace talks unless the complaints are dropped," MILF negotiator Mohagher Iqbal said hours before Calica’s announcement.

It was not clear when the Malaysian-brokered talks would resume. They hit a snag in early September over the size of a southern area that would fall under Muslim control as part of a peace deal, and the government was expected to present fresh proposals soon.

President Arroyo recently asked Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to continue mediating.

Malacañang has expressed confidence that a three-year-old ceasefire with the MILF will hold despite the impasse.

Calica said there was no other evidence against Murad apart from the guerrilla’s allegation.

He said he was assessing whether charges should be pursued against 21 other suspects, including top Indonesian terror suspects Dulmatin and Omar Patek and a Pakistani national.

"That claim against Murad was hearsay," Calica said.

Aside from Murad, two other MILF guerrillas were linked to the bombings, Iqbal said, adding that the complaints against them should also be dropped.

The accusations against Murad damaged years of goodwill and confidence-building work and threatened the ceasefire, Iqbal said.

Government troops or militiamen have launched at least four attacks against the rebels amid mounting tension in recent weeks, prompting the MILF to protest to a joint ceasefire committee, he said.

Police accused three Indonesian militants, including Dulmatin and Omar Patek, of allegedly helping plot the bombings, which the military said may have been part of a plan to disrupt a US-backed offensive against al-Qaeda-linked Filipino and Indonesian militants in Sulu.

Dulmatin and Patek — believed to be hiding in the region — have been blamed for some of Southeast Asia’s worst terrorist attacks, including the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people.

The MILF, which the military says has 11,000 fighters, has been battling for self-rule for more than two decades in Mindanao. — With AP