[From the web] Confidence building -PhilStar.com

EDITORIAL – Confidence building The Philippine Star March 02, 2012 What happens when a member of the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front is “suspended” by its leadership? Does it include being temporarily disarmed? Will the suspended member follow the lead of MILF commander Ameril Umbra Kato and simply form a breakaway group? And who can…

Human Rights Online Philippines

March 4, 2012

1–2 minutes

Al Barka, Al-Barka Basilan, Ameril Umbra Kato, Basilan, editorial, MILF, Moro Islamic Liberation Front, peace negotiator, Philippine Star, Philstar.com, Politics, Special Forces

EDITORIAL – Confidence building
The Philippine Star
March 02, 2012

What happens when a member of the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front is “suspended” by its leadership? Does it include being temporarily disarmed? Will the suspended member follow the lead of MILF commander Ameril Umbra Kato and simply form a breakaway group? And who can verify if the suspension has truly been carried out?

The government, which continues to explore long-term peace with the MILF, will just have to take the word of the group for it. The other day, the MILF leadership announced that three of the group’s commanders based in Basilan had been suspended for three months for their direct participation in the ambush of Army Special Forces and Scout Rangers in the town of Al-Barka on Oct. 18 last year. Nineteen soldiers were killed. The MILF’s chief peace negotiator said the three would undergo an education seminar on the peace process.