Australian security expert warns of more bombings, war in Mindanao if peace process with MILF remains stalled

By Ronron
January 17, 2008

An Australian security expert who has studied the situation in Mindanao for several years warned on Thursday of more bombing incidents and the escalation of a war in the south if the stalled peace process between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) will not move forward.

In a forum with the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) in Makati City, Dr. Kit Collier, a visiting fellow from the Australian National University, said foreign terrorists, whom he calls as “jihadists,” will always take advantage of the volatile situation.

“The jihadists will always seek to derail the peace process,” Collier said, because they can continue their links with some members of the MILF without the risk of being reported to authorities.

He said this is where the Adhoc Joint Action Group (AHJAG) between the government and the MILF particularly plays an important role. The AHJAG has yet to be re-activated since its expiration middle of last year.

The AHJAG is a mechanism that allows the MILF to coordinate with Philippine law enforcement agencies for the apprehension of criminal and terrorist elements that are hiding within the secessionist group.

Because of the lack of the AHJAG mechanism, Collier said “there is a danger of a drift to war this 2008” in Mindanao.

Collier said that based on interviews he made with local residents, MILF members, the police, and the military, foreign terrorists, particularly Malaysians, Indonesians and Singaporeans, continue to train local Moslems in the south.

“What’s worrying is the transfer of IED (improvised explosive device) technology, which is very potential for terrorist attacks,” he said.

Collier said the trainings continue in southern Maguindanao, Lanao areas, and in Jolo,_Sulu.

He would not say how many foreign terrorists are now hiding in Mindanao so as not to preempt his report that will come out in three weeks for the International Crisis Group.

Collier said the foreign terrorists have been there the past few years but their activities have been constricted by the peace process.

Collier said that if the peace negotiations resume and the AHJAG is re-established, the government could then map out the list of MILF commanders to find out and prosecute those who have links with the Jemaah Islamiyah and other extremist groups.

“That’s one (revive AHJAG) of the most important things that Manila can do. It’s easy to do, it’s not expensive. It simply requires the political moxie to get AHJAG up again and running so that we can work with the MILF to marginalize terrorists instead of by default allowing them to occupy center stage,” he said.

The peace talks between the government and the MILF bogged down in December last year after the latter protested the mention of “Constitutional process” in the provisions of the proposed ancestral domain agreement./DMS