Philippine army assault risks reviving
Christian-Muslim conflicts
MANILA, Sept 22 (AFP) - The
Philippine army offensive against Muslim rebels holding 17 hostages on the island of Jolo
runs the risk of inflaming rivalries between the nation's Christian and Muslims, diplomats
here said.
"President Joseph Estrada
took a great risk when he launched the operation against the Abu Sayyaf last
Saturday," a western diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity.
"Even if the rebels
appeared more motivated by the lure of ransoms they would have got from releasing the
remaining hostages, the army offensive will boost the sympathies of Muslims in the
southern Philippines, who have always considered the Manila authorities to be a colonial
force," another diplomat said.
Antagonism between Christians
in the north and Muslims in the south has lingered for several centuries.
Colonial powers, initially
Spain and then the United States, attempted without success to snuff out independence
movements in the southern regions, and the Muslims continue to regard the Manila
leadership as a foreign occupation force.
One faction the Moro Islamic
Liberation Front, is still battling government forces. Six of its members were killed
Monday in a clash with the troops on Mindanao.
But the last major Muslim
rebellion, launched by the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in the mid-1970s,
subsided with the signing of a peace accord in 1996 following mediation by Libya. Between
50,000 to 60,000 people died in the rebellion, according to official figures.
The accord allowed the Muslim
populations a broad degree of autonomy throughout the province of Mindanao, like Jolo
island now under attack by the army.
But it has yet to deliver on
promises to kick start economic development, and the south of the country remains the
Philippines' poorest region.
Additionally, talks designed to
spread autonomy to other areas with Muslim majorities and to target government aid to
reduce poverty failed to take place as planned at the start of the year.
Nur Misuari, former head of the
MNLF who became governor of the Muslim part of Mindanao following the peace accord, thus
lost the trust of many southern inhabitants, who accuse him of having made too many
concessions to Manila and of abandoning the dream of independence he once fought for.
The sudden spotlight on the Abu
Sayyaf faction and the huge ransoms they reportedly obtained for their foreign hostages
altered matters again.
The ransom windfalls helped the
rebels win strong support among Jolo residents, who benefited as some of the separatists'
new-found wealth trickled down to them.
French hostages Roland Madura
and Jean-Jacques le Garrec, who escaped from their captors on Tuesday, emphasized after
arriving in Manila that their biggest fear during their flight was being seen by Jolo
locals -- who, they believed, would certainly have delivered them back to the rebels.
"Having escaped from the
rebel group, we knew that if any inhabitants saw us, they would have returned us
immediately to the Abu Sayyaf in the hope of seeing some of the ransom money," Madura
explained.
"For an inhabitant of
Jolo, to watch us go past would have been like watching a million dollars go past,"
he said.
"All the inhabitants of
Jolo are Abu Sayyaf accomplices and they all support them," he added.
This solidarity between the
people and the rebels could be further strengtened if the current military offensive
claims many civilian casualties.
According to the hostages, the
army is concentrating for the moment on continuing air raids and "random
bombardments."
Such tactics could give the
rebels a new opportunity to show Jolo's 500,000 inhabitants -- and all the Muslims of the
south -- that once again they are the victims of aggression by Christians from the north.
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