Killing by Marines of Imam very impossible – Marine commander

By Ronron
July 17, 2007

The commander of the entire Marine brigade in Basilan denied on Tuesday the allegation of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) that his soldiers were responsible for the brutal murder of a highly-regarded religious leader in Basilan province last July 10.

Col. Ramiro Alivio, commander of the 1st Marine Brigade, said the allegation is “impossible” because the military has no motive to do such.

“Why will we do that when we have some media with us that day? … It’s very unlikely,” Alivio told Camp Aguinaldo reporters in a phone interview yesterday.

The elements of the 1st Marine Brigade that were in Barangay Guinanta, Al-Barka town last July 10 were accompanied by a three-man news team of GMA 7, led by reporter Jun Veneracion.

It was the group that later fought out with MILF troops and other armed fighters for nine hours, resulting in the death of 14 soldiers, 10 of whom were beheaded, and the wounding of nine others.

The group, according to the military, had just come from search operations for abducted Italian Catholic priest Fr. Gian Carlo Bossi.

According to the MILF, the Marine soldiers forcibly took Imam Hakim Ali or Alnakul from his house in Barangay Guinanta and forced him to accompany them to the MILF base. He was later found after the clash already dead, hogtied, with deep wounds, hacked in the back, and throat slashed that almost severed his head. His body was beside that of the fallen Marines.

The brutal killing of the Imam is believed to be the motive, like revenge, in beheading the 10 soldiers.

But Alivio said it is more likely that the Imam was tortured to death by a private armed group who suspected him to be an agent for the government.

“It is more possible that the private armed group killed the Imam. They must have suspected that he gave information to the military about the presence of the lawless armed elements in the area, that’s why the military entered the area,” Alivio said in Filipino.

He said that with all that was happening during that encounter, “do you think we still have time to torture and do those stuff?”

“They are trying to point an accusing finger to the military because they are the ones doing it,” Alivio said.

Different agencies are now investigating the incident, especially because of the beheading incident.

The MILF claims the military troops entered their territory without coordination and started the gun fire.

But the Marines said they just passed by the area and were on their way back to base after getting negative results in their search for the 57-year-old priest.

Bossi was abducted last June 10 in Payao, Zamboanga Sibugay where he has been serving as parish priest since April of this year./DMS