MANILA, Philippines - The Armed Forces stood by the arrest of a suspected aide of fugitive Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) commander Ameril Ombra Kato, saying its operatives had confirmed his identity before launching the operation.
Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner, AFP spokesman, said that while they would look into complaints that Alimudin Tambilawan, who was arrested last Tuesday in Cotabato City, was a Muslim imam, they are certain that he was the one they were looking for.
“Of course we would verify the complaints, but we are sure that we have arrested the right person,” he said.
Ali was nabbed at the house of his second wife.
Brawner said the suspect was with MILF forces that pillaged civilian communities in Aleosan and Midsayap towns in North Cotabato two years ago.
MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu has alleged that police and military agents arrested the wrong guy.
Authorities earlier said the one arrested was Camarudin Hadi Ali, a trusted lieutenant of Kato and a battalion commander of the MILF’s 105th Base Command.
The Army has pulled out a battalion of soldiers from Central Mindanao and is now working to pull out two more battalions and an elite Scout Ranger company due to the “improving” peace and order situation in the region.