Author Topic: Muslim rebels occupy village; Christian settlers flee  (Read 939 times)

orChids

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Muslim rebels occupy village; Christian settlers flee
« on: May 03, 2008, 01:17:16 PM »


COTABATO -- More than a thousand mostly Christian settlers fled their farming village in southern Philippines after about 300 armed Muslim rebels occupied their land, the guerrillas and a mayor said Friday.

Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) guerrillas entered the coastal village of Sangay in Kalamansig town on Wednesday, demanding food and confiscating rice recently harvested by the villagers, Kalamansig Mayor Rolando Garcia said.

The rebels told the frightened villagers to leave, sending them fleeing to Kalamansig town some three hours away by boat, Garcia told reporters. Kalamansig is in Sultan Kudarat province.

"I sent a peacekeeping force there to settle the problem amicably but they were forced to withdraw to avoid bloodshed," Garcia said of the 14-man police team sent to the area.

There were no immediate reports of fighting or casualties.

Garcia said he and village officials had hoped the rebels would stay only briefly as they have in the past, but the guerrillas remained in the village.

MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu said the occupation arose from competing claims to the land, but rebel leaders have not approved the action yet.

"This is due to overlapping land claims that have not been acted on," Kabalu told The Associated Press.

The MILF, who have been fighting for more than three decades to establish a Muslim homeland, agreed to a cease-fire with the government in 2003 while the two sides hold peace talks brokered by Malaysia.

Malaysian defense chief General Abdul Aziz Zainal was meeting with Philippine officials in Manila on Friday, including President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Abdul Aziz also planned to visit Malaysian cease-fire monitors in the south and Muslim guerrillas at a rebel camp, chief MILF negotiator Mohagher Iqbal said.

Kabalu said the MILF was in talks with officials to resolve the situation in Sangay, but that it was a local issue and government and rebel peace negotiators were not involved. He did not mention Abdul Aziz. (AP)


For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Zamboanga.

(May 3, 2008 issue)
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Lorenzo

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Re: Muslim rebels occupy village; Christian settlers flee
« Reply #1 on: May 03, 2008, 01:22:59 PM »
Why are they so violent? Even before the arrival of the Spaniards, the Moros would ransack and attack Visayan villages. Hoarding thousands of Visayans off in their ships to sell as slaves.

When the Spaniards came, they built lighthouses to warn of the incoming Moros.

It is a shame that Spain was unable to fully christianize the south. Now we have the effects of their violent jihadist nature.

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