A BREAKAWAY group of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) is the main suspect in the bomb blast in Maguindanao province over the weekend that killed at least 15 people, a spokesman for the military said Wednesday.
Who’d have thought that?
"This faction is against the stand of the mainstream MILF leadership from peace talks," Lucero told INQ7.net in a telephone interview. Lucero said political foes of Parang town Mayor Vicente Bataga, who was among those injured, contracted the rebels to bomb the basketball court last Saturday. Lucero refused to identify the opponents of the mayor, who is seeking reelection in the May 10 polls. Lucero said he hoped the actions of the rebel faction would not affect peace talks between the government and the MILF scheduled this month. However, Lucero said the government was not ruling out the involvement of "terrorist" groups "because of the indiscriminate blasting of this bomb," the Agence France-Presse reported.
| "If the bomb had blasted less indiscriminately, we'd be positive it wasn't terrorists..." |
The authorities were interviewing some of the surviving victims of the Parang blast who could help the government identify and punish the attackers, he added. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is seeking a political settlement with the 11,900-member MILF before the May 10 presidential election, in which she is seeking six more years in office.
| So they're not letting a few corpses jam the blades of the peace processor... |
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