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| Southeast Asia |
| Philippines agrees to end southern offensive |
| 2005-09-26 |
| The government has agreed to halt offensives in two southern towns aimed at capturing Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khadaffy Janjalani to allow displaced villagers and guerrillas to return home, officials and the rebels said Sunday. Hundreds of soldiers, including US-trained commandos, have scoured the mountainous hinterlands of Talayan and Guindolongan towns in Maguindanao since July, but have failed to capture Janjalani, wanted by Manila and Washington for involvement in deadly terror attacks. Officials and Moro Islamic Liberation Front guerrillas, engaged in talks with the government and helping in the search for Janjalani, said Philippine troops would stop fighting and withdraw by the end of the month to allow villagers to return home and MILF guerrillas to reoccupy their camps. Hundreds of villagers abandoned their homes and MILF guerrillas withdrew from their camps to allow government troops to pursue Janjalani and his armed followers who were sighted in the area along with a number of suspected militants belonging to the al-Qaeda-linked Jema'ah Islamiyah. The MILF twice extended a deadline for the troops to end the assaults, according to both sides. "It’s important to put an end, a timeframe to these operations, because many villagers have been suffering and wanted to go back to their homes and farms," MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu said. Agreement in principle was forged by the government and the MILF during a Malaysian-brokered peace talks in Kuala Lumpur two weeks ago. Both sides agreed to provide relief and livelihood to displaced villagers. Silvestre Afable, chief government peace negotiator, said the troop withdrawal would allow villagers and MILF rebels to observe the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The military’s "high-value targets are no longer there," suggesting Janjalani was no longer in the area, he added. Afable and Kabalu said the military could continue offensives elsewhere in the province, about 900 kilometers (560 miles) south of Manila. Kabalu said Janjalani, along with two other Abu Sayyaf leaders—Abu Sulaiman and Isnilon Hapilon—have reportedly split into small groups to avoid detection, never staying in the same spot longer than a week. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |