MILF blames ASG/JI for bombings in Mindanao

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on Friday pointed to the combined al-Qaeda linked Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) as behind the three deadly bomb attacks in Mindanao that killed seven people and injured more than 30 others.

“We believe that this triple bomb explosions in General Santos City, Kidapawan City and Cotabato City were the handiwork of Abu Sayyaf and Dulmatin and Omar Patek,” said Ghadzali Jaafar, MILF political affairs chief.

Dulmatin and Patek are among international terrorists wanted by the United States government. They are blamed for the October 2002 bombings in Bali, Indonesia, that killed some 200 people and injured scores of others.

The two Indonesian bombers are on the run in Sulu with Abu Sayyaf group, including its chieftain Khadaffy Janjalani, and are being pursued by government troops in its on going operation dubbed “Oplan: Ultimatum”, which began on August last year.

Government soldiers killed earlier this month seven suspected members of the terrorist group, including an Indonesian militant and a senior Abu Sayyaf leader blamed for spate of bombing, in two separate encounters off the southern island of Tawi-Tawi and Sulu.

Jaafar said the bomb attacks were carried out by the Abu Sayyaf in retaliation to the death of its senior leaders in Sulu and as a way to sabotage the on going 12th ASEAN summit in Cebu City to shame the Philippine government.

But Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff General Hermogenes Esperon blamed Basit Usman, a former MILF member who is now working with the Abu Sayyaf and JI, as the mastermind for the series of bomb attacks.

The military also linked Usman to the April 2002 bombing of the Fitmart department store in General Santos in which 15 people were killed and more than 60 hurt. The suspect was captured in July that year, but escaped three months after and returned underground.

Police investigators on Thursday came up with an artist sketch of a suspect in the bombing of lotto betting station in General Santos City, where six people were killed and 26 others were injured. Reports said the sketch is similar to the image of Usman.

Meanwhile, Jaafar denied that Usman is a member of the MILF and offered to help government agents identify and arrest of the suspect through the Adhoc Joint Action Group Action (AHJAG) and GRP-MILF coordinating committee on cessation of hostilities (CCCH).

“This is not new. We are the usual suspects whenever there are bomb attacks in the country to picture the MILF as a terrorist organization,” he said. “However, we are waiting for the proposal of government to help pin down the suspect through AHJAG or CCCH…we are ready.”

The MILF had earlier denied police information, which pointed to MILF commander Said Pakiladato and his deputy, Ustadz Hawon, as the perpetrators of the blast near a refreshment parlor on Makakua Street in Cotabato City on Jan. 5 that injured three people.

Reports said the two suspects were leaders of the 105th MILF Base Command and carried out the attack on behalf of the JI terrorist group. Pakiladato was the prime suspect in the deadly 2002 bomb attack in Maguindanao that killed a town mayor. (HG)