Author: Ron Corben
Publication: Voice of America
Date: May 22, 2003
URL: http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=0D461ED5-EF51-4AC7-AE7F4DD9989B4DEA&title=At%20Least%20100%20Philippine%20Rebels%20Killed%20in%20Latest%20Military%20Offensive&catOID=45C9C78B-88AD-11D4-A57200A0CC5EE46C&categoryname=Asia%20Pacific
Philippine officials say more than
90 Muslim rebels have surrendered, and at least 100 have died during the
military's latest offensive.
Presidential aides say the guerrillas
and their field commanders surrendered in the southern Philippine city
of Iligan earlier this week.
The Philippine Army began a push
against the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front last Saturday. The
government called off peace talks after blaming the Front for a series
of attacks that have killed nearly 200 civilians this year.
Philippine Defense Secretary Angelo
Reyes says the operation has eliminated what he describes as a "terrorist
cell" in the town of Munai in the southern province of Lanao del Norte.
Lieutenant Colonel Renoir Pascua,
spokesman for the military's southern command, says those who surrendered
did so because of the heavy government offensive, which has killed more
than 118 rebels.
But Moro Islamic Liberation Front
spokesman Eid Kabalu denies the death toll reports. He also accuses the
government of stage managing the surrender, saying those who gave up were
members of a separate group, the Moro National Liberation Front, which
has had a ceasefire with the government since 1996.
"There is no truth about there being
members of the MILF; claiming to be members of the MILF," he said. "They
are not, they are considered fake and as far as the MILF is concerned they
are opportunists."
Mr. Kabalu says the surrender was
part of the Philippine military's psychological war against the rebels.
He also says just six guerillas have been killed and more than 10 injured.
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front
has been fighting for three decades to create a separate Muslim state in
the largely Roman Catholic Philippine archipelago.
