AFP rejects OIC plea; P1-M reward up vs Malik

The Armed Forces on Tuesday dangled a P1-million reward for information leading to the arrest of Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) commander Habier Malik even as it insisted that offensives against his group would continue in Sulu. Military chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon said government forces would move to crush Malik, despite calls from the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) that the government and Moro fighters "disengage" from the attacks. "This is an operation against Habier Malik so that he will be made to answer for his criminal liabilities, including the death of the a child and the death of two marine soldiers when he fired mortars at the headquarters of the Marine Battalion Landing Team and the Panamao municipal hall," Esperon said. Brigadier Gen. Ruperto Pabustan, military special operations forces chief, told GMA News during an interview from Sulu that the money would be paid to civilian informants only and not members of the soldiers. "Our Chief of Staff, General Esperon, has offered a P1 million for the arrest of Malik ... informants can coordinate with the Philippine National Police (PNP) and Task Force Comet," Pabustan said in Filipino during an interview aired over dzBB radio. Pabustan said that after three days of hostilities in Sulu, three soldiers were killed in action and 53 others were wounded on the government side. All of the fatalities were marines. On the side of the MNLF, Pabustan said, a total of 17 rebels perished while over 50 others were injured. The 57-member nation OIC, which enjoys permanent delegation status to the United Nations, earlier asked the two sides to stop their clashes. OIC Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu reiterated his "appeal to the two parties to abide by the provisions of the 1996 Final Peace Agreement in letter and spirit and to resume negotiation in good faith for the full implementation of that Agreement." However, Esperon claimed Tuesday that the attacks were not aimed against the MNLF itself, but at the faction led by Malik alone. As if to show that the violence would not cease soon, the Armed Forces reported also on Tuesday that separate clashes erupted involving "rogue" MNLF elements that left rebels dead. The first encounter happened Monday at 12:30 p.m. in Kalingalan Caluang town, while the next battle happened Tuesday at 6:45 a.m. in Panamao town. Esperon said the common "element" in all of the offensives is Malik. "Yes generally that should be the idea, [that there be] suspension of hostilities. But there has been no hostilities in the first place between the AFP and the MNLF," Esperon said. Malik last February prevented Metro Manila military commander Major Gen. Ben Mohammad Dolorfino and several of his companions from leaving the captured his camp after a dialogue. The MNLF commander allowed Dolorfino's group to leave the camp two days later after getting the assurance that a tripartite meeting between MNLF, OIC and the government would push through in March. The meeting, which was reset later this month, was aimed at assessing the peace agreement forged by the MNLF and the government in 1996. Meanwhile, Pabustan claimed that Malik's camp has already been overrun by government forces. "There are packets of skirmishes or harassment that Malik's group happening around his complex," Pabustan said. - GMANews.TV