32 dead as MNLF grabs hostages

ZAMBOANGA CITY — Armed followers of Nur Misuari seized 86 civilian hostages, many of them women and children, and used them as human shields to escape massive bombardment by air and ground forces here yesterday.

Heavily armed gunmen surrounded the weeping hostages who were roped together as they marched from the Kabatangan complex, a government facility that the rebels had occupied, toward the hills outside the city around noon.

By evening, 30 rebels, a soldier and a civilian had been killed. In the standoff, negotiations started for the release of the hostages.

Twenty-nine of the 86 original hostages were females, many of whom were young girls who marched in front of the group as hooded gunmen wrapped their arms around the girls’ necks and pointed pistols at their heads.

"Pabor tiene lastima canamon (Please pity us)!" a woman hostage cried in the vernacular Chabacano as a gunman pointed an M-14 rifle at her head while a slowly retreating armored personnel carrier in front of the marchers trained its gun on the group.

"Don’t shoot! Please don’t shoot!" pleaded a male hostage as the group, which included the pregnant wife and one-year-old daughter of journalist Bong Bue of the Daily Zamboanga Times, marched past cheering youths who shouted "Allahu akbar (God is great)!"

Hundreds of other residents marched at a safe distance behind the group, screaming obscenities and raising their middle fingers at the gunmen who later met up with other heavily armed Misuari followers in hilly Barangay Pasonanca.

Armed Forces spokesman Brig. Gen. Edilberto Adan said the hostages were seized from inside their homes as the gunmen fled the air strikes and ground assault the military unleashed on the Kabatangan complex.

Adan said the military was forced to order the attack because the number of heavily armed men was increasing, especially after Misuari was caught off Sabah, trying to sneak into Malaysia.

But elements of the Armed Forces Southern Command (Southcom) pulled back their strike as they slowly escorted the gunmen and their hostages to Barangay Pasonanca, three kilometers from Kabatangan.

The government also sent Interior and Local Government Assistant Secretary Abraham Iribani to negotiate for the release of the hostages, who were being held in a house in Pasonanca last night.

The gunmen later released five hostages, including Bue’s wife and baby, leaving 81 more hostages in their hands as of late yesterday.

While Iribani pursued talks with the gunmen, the air strikes and ground assault on Kabatangan complex continued while the Navy and Coast Guard sent gunboats to patrol the waters off Zamboanga and intercept rebel reinforcements.

Meanwhile, Southcom said all flights to Zamboanga were suspended while Air Force chief Lt. Gen. Benjamin Defensor vowed to continue the airstrikes against Misuari’s followers.

30 more Misuari loyalists killed

The fierce fighting resulted in the death of at least one civilian, one government trooper, 30 Misuari followers and an undetermined number of wounded, Adan added.

The gunmen, led by Misuari’s nephew Julhambri, were among some 200 men who had been occupying the sprawling hilltop Kabatangan complex, the satellite office of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), since Nov. 19.

Adan said Julhambri’s men, which originally numbered only about 60, had been refusing to vacate the facility since other Misuari followers launched attacks on military detachments in Sulu on Nov. 19.

Adan said the military had attempted to negotiate for the peaceful withdrawal of Misuari’s followers but talks bogged down when the gunmen refused to leave their guns behind.

Faced with a quickly growing number of gunmen, the military unleashed attack planes and helicopter gunships on the complex which is located on a hilltop overlooking the runway of the city’s airport. The dawn airstrike sent Misuari’s followers scampering out of the complex and grabbing hostages from the houses along the road to the hills.

Witnesses said three attack planes swooped into steep dives and released bombs that shook the ground around the complex.

Florita Orquito, a 43-year-old hostage who escaped amid the fighting, told reporters the gunmen moved quietly into the neighborhoods and took the hostages before the fighting began.

The gunmen sent Bue out at around 7 a.m. to relay the gunmen’s demand for safe passage and pick up bread and water. He later returned, fearing his wife and six children would be harmed.

His wife and infant child were later released after Iribani was sent to negotiate but Bue himself and his other children were still with the group as of last night.

Zamboanga City police chief Superintendent Mario Yanga said the hostage-holding gunmen rebels have divided into two groups to further confound pursuing government forces.

As the fighting intensified by mid-day, mortar shells rained on the Edwin Andrews air base and the adjacent international airport and machine-gunfire tore through the walls of the Garden Orchid hotel.

The fierce fighting erupted two days after Malaysian authorities captured Misuari who was fleeing Sulu island as the military launched retaliatory attacks after the Nov. 19 attacks.

‘Disrepute to Islam’

Meanwhile, in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia where Nur is being held for illegally entering the country, government officials said they were not concerned that his supporters may try to spring him from prison.

"We have no fear at all," said Chong Kah Kiat, chief minister of Malaysia’s Sabah state. "We don’t believe that his followers here or over the other side will cause anything to us."

Chong said Misuari was "in the hands of the federal government" and that Malaysia is waiting for a request from the Philippine government before repatriating him.

"As far as the state (of Sabah) is concerned, we are as calm as ever. Life goes on as ever. The security in the state is very well intact," Chong said. But Malaysia’s sports minister and head of the governing party’s youth wing, Hishammuddin Hussein said Misuari should be deported as soon as possible, the official Bernama News Agency reported.

"Under the present circumstances, we just cannot allow anyone to bring disrepute to Islam and commit sacrilege against the religion," Hishamuddin was quoted as saying.

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad himself criticized Misuari for failing to fulfill his promises of progress and development in Mindanao and instigating instability in the region.

Malaysia is a member of the Committee of Eight of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) which brokered and oversees the peace pact Misuari had signed with the government in 1996.

National Security Adviser Roilo Golez said the gunmen’s insistence of staying at the Kabatangan complex showed that there had been a plan to violate the 1996 peace pact.

"The presence of heavily armed men there shows that Misuari was all along violating the peace agreement by keeping his private army inside Kabatangan," Golez told reporters at Malacañang Palace.

"They are heavily armed which also shows where Nur Misuari spent the money that Manila gave the ARMM for development projects," he added.

‘Speak to them in their language’

In Cotabato City, new leaders of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), which Misuari used to head, were infuriated at the deeds of Misuari followers and urged the government to "flex its muscles" against the ragtag band of loyalists.

"Because they speak only in the language of violence, the government should speak to them in their own language," said Hamim Alfatah Abubakar, spokesman for the MNLF’s Council of 15 which ousted Misuari in April.

Cotabato City Mayor Muslimin Sema, also a member of the MNLF executive council, said Misuari loyalists should be dealt with to the full extent of the law.

"What they have done is a sign that they are indeed very desperate now. We cannot do anything about it because they violated laws and they violated the (1996) peace agreement," Sema said.

Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. urged the government to invite Misuari’s followers to a dialogue to avoid further violence in the war-ravaged island.

"I appeal for calm and sobriety. I call on both sides to find a peaceful solution to this problem," said Pimentel, who hails from Cagayan de Oro, north of Zamboanga.

Pimentel said the government would only get into a "no-win situation" if it will depend solely on military actions to deal with the crisis in Zamboanga.

Misuari’s former colleagues made the condemnation as the Philippine National Police (PNP) placed all its commands in Mindanao on heightened alert against further attacks by other Misuari loyalists.

Police intelligence reports claim about 2,000 Misuari loyalists were planning to attack Marawi City in Lanao del Sur and Pikit and Buldon towns in Cotabato. - With reports from John Unson, Paolo Romero, Marichu Villanueva, Jaime Laude, Nestor Etolle, Matthew Estabillo, Rainier Allan Ronda, Rey Arquiza