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| Southeast Asia |
| MILF rebels want to keep their guns |
| 2012-10-13 |
| After seeing two of his brothers die during fighting in the southern Philippines, Muslim When asked whether he would lay down his weapons as part of a peace accord, Ganalan said, "I will not agree. That is like full surrender." Ganalan, a senior member of an MILF elite security squad guarding rebel chief Murad Ebrahim, said he had invested all his life in the rebellion and years of fierce fighting had taught him one lesson. "There is no surrender," said Ganalan. Ganalan said he and other The "framework agreement" for peace would create a new autonomous region in the southern Philippines. As part of the deal, the MILF would give up its quest for an independent homeland in parts of the southern region of Mindanao. Its soldiers would also be "decommissioned", although details on how and when they would lay down their array of weapons were not spelled out. Ganalan said on the one hand he would respect the MILF elders' decision on the peace deal, but he also expressed deep reservations about giving up on the independence that he had fought for so long to achieve and which he said was justified in the Koran. He said, "Regardless of whoever tells us what to do, if it goes against the Koran, we will not surrender." Even if peace comes about, Ganalan and his wife retold stories of war that have caused emotional scars impossible to heal. His wife, Norah Ibrahim, said one of his two brothers killed in the fighting was mutilated, and his severed head found stuffed in a pail. She said their two children, now in their 20s, were also MILF fighters. She said she hoped the fighting would eventually stop, allowing her to see her family more often and help her tend a small shop. But she also believed the men should not be stripped of their weapons, saying guns were a way of life in Mindanao. She said, "A Bangsamoro (Muslim) is always ready to fight." She argued that guns were necessary for protection against revenge killings common among Muslim clans, and against other armed groups. MILF brigade chief Guiazakallaha Jaafar, who boasts of 3000 fighters under his command, said he and his men thought their leaders would not order them disarmed without without consensus from key officers. He compared himself to "a fighting cock without spurs" if he no longer had a weapon. Jaafar said, "They can make us into a police force, or village watchers, even militia units. But they can not just take away our guns." |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #1 what's "Hudna" in Tagalog? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2012-10-13 09:13 |