President Rodrigo Duterte has rejected proposals by Moro
National Liberation Front’s Nur Misuari to grant general amnesty to Abu Sayyaf
militants and include the notorious terrorist group in the peace talks with the
government.
Misuari, chieftain of the former rebel group, earlier asked
the government to suspend all military offensives against the Abu Sayyaf
militants, whose group is tied to the Islamic State, to allow peaceful
negotiations for the safe release of kidnapped Malaysian and Indonesian tugboat
crew members being held in the southern Philippines
This proposal was also rejected by Defense Secretary Delfin
Lorenzana.
Duterte said if Misuari would not abandon his proposal to
include the Abu Sayyaf in the talks and grant them amnesty, then the peace
negotiations with the MNLF are unlikely to push through.
“You wait for another President. Ayoko ng ganoon, as a
matter of principle, I will not accept that. Either Nur abandons the Abu Sayyaf
or he will take care of the Abu Sayyaf,” Duterte said in rejecting Misuari’s
proposals.
Duterte said he has been waiting for Misuari to start the
peace talks until the former Libyan firebrand came up with the Abu Sayyaf
proposals. “Si Nur Misuari, I have been waiting for him. Ang bagong proposal is
pati Abu Sayyaf isali na niya. At pagdating ng panahon kung magka-okay tayo,
isali niya sa general amnesty. Pagka ganoon, huwag na lang tayong mag-usap. I
will not. For the life of me, I will not. Why should I talk to animals? What’s
the point?” he asked.
But MNLF spokesman Emmanuel Fontanilla strongly denied that
Misuari wanted the Abu Sayyaf in the peace talks. According to a report by The
Philippine Star, Fontanilla expressed concern that some people might have
been feeding Duterte false information to disrupt the resumption of peace talks
with the government.
“We vehemently deny that chairman Misuari wants Abu Sayyaf
to be included in the negotiation, we condemn terrorist actions,” Fontanilla
was quoted as saying.
He said Misuari, in a gesture of goodwill, heeded the call
of Duterte to help secure the release of the Abu Sayyaf hostages in Sulu and
even engaged the militants in armed clashes that killed some MNLF members.
http://mindanaoexaminer.com/duterte-rejects-misuaris-proposal-to-grant-amnesty-to-sayyafs-include-them-in-peace-talks/
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