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| Southeast Asia |
| Filippinos in pursuit of 80 Abu Sayyaf |
| 2005-03-09 |
| The Philippine military Wednesday launched pursuit operation for some 80 suspected members of the Abu Sayyaf group and the rebel group of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in the southern province. Military spokesman Lt. Col. Buenaventura Pascual said that the government troops are pursuing the rebels, allegedly led by MNLF commander Ahadon Adak, following a gunbattle in Indanan, Sulu, on Tuesday leaving two soldiers and an undetermined number of rebels wounded. The encounter was the first in the province after President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo rejected calls for a cease-fire in Sulu on Friday. President Arroyo Tuesday said that her government patiently will wage peace with rebels across the negotiating table but it will deal with terror with iron hands. "We're dealing with terror with iron hands even as we wage peace with rebels across the negotiating table," Arroyo said at aninternational conference held in Davao. At the closing session of the World Bank-organized Philippine Development Forum, the president said the government is winning peace in the southern islands of Mindanao, based on strengthening Muslim autonomy and respect for ancestral domains. President Arroyo also noted that military operations against the rebels were necessary to ensure order in the province. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #2 hope they catch and kill them before Gloria has another ceasefire in mind |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-03-09 8:10:54 PM |
| #1 Good hunting! |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2005-03-09 7:34:06 PM |