Malik, another fellow MNLF commander reportedly injured in last week’s clash

By Ronron
April 26, 2007

Two Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) commanders being hunted down by government troops in Sulu were reportedly injured during pursuit operations conducted by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) since April 14.

Maj. Gen. Mohammad Ben Dolorfino, commander of the AFP National Capital Region Command and a member of the peace negotiating body of the government with the MNLF and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), said Thursday that Ustadz Habier Malik was slightly wounded while Tahil Sali, the MNLF’s vice chairman for Military Affairs, was seriously injured.

“Somebody informed me by phone that he (Malik) was wounded, he has a minor wound… in the foot,” Dolorfino told reporters in Camp Aguinaldo.

He described his source as an MNLF informant.

Dolorfino, who was held hostage by Malik along with other government peace negotiators last February inside the MNLF commander’s camp in Panamao town, said Malik sustained the injury during an encounter last week in Parang town.

“Probably, this is why there is a lull now (in the fighting against Malik’s group),” Dolorfino said.

As for Sali, he said the latter got his injuries in a separate military operation.

Dolorfino said that personally, he feels that the problem with Malik should be resolved peacefully if possible.

He said charges can be filed against the MNLF commander since he really committed a crime with the death a civilian and soldiers, and the wounding of many others out of their mortar shelling since the night of April 13.

This way, Malik can be held accountable for his actions.

Dolorfino said that he had tried to communicate with Malik since the start of the fighting but to no avail.

Instead, he went to MNLF Chairman Nur Misuari to seek for the latter’s intercession.

But Dolorfino said Misuari opted to distance himself so as not to affect his ongoing rebellion case.

“On the second day of what is happening in Sulu, I went to Chairman Misuari. He told me he cannot do anything because if he tries to intercede, it might affect the resolution of his case. So he is waiting for somebody from the OIC (Organization of Islamic Conference) or the government to tell him to do something,” Dolorfino said.

Malik had said in media interviews earlier that what provoked his decision was the operation launched by the AFP against a camp of a fellow MNLF commander.

But the AFP denied it, saying what they attacked was the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG).

The MNLF forged peace with the government in 1996, without surrendering their firearms, an issue the government now sees as an irony in having the peace pact./DMS